Here we go again!
by Western-Otaku
Summary: Post 3rd Impact. Shinji has finally manned up, but he still regrets what has happened in the past. Until he is presented with an opportunity to go back to when it all began. What will happen this time with a newly resolved, non-wimpy Shinji? Shinji's POV, Shinji x Asuka, Rated T for Language.
1. Prologue Part 1

**Author Notes:** _So guys, this is my First Fanfic, so I hope I don't screw this thing up. I most likely won't be updating this regularly (just when I feel like it, and when my Parents aren't around; I'm supposed to be grounded from my Computer and stuff unless it's for my schooling!) and hopefully the quality of my Fanfic writing improves as I go along in time. Characters may also be OOC, I'll try to keep them as In-Character as I can, but my plan with Shinji and Asuka requires them to be OOC for this to work – there, you've been warned. It's likely that this will end up being a Shinji x Asuka pairing, so now there won't be any unpleasant surprises for any Shinji x Rei fans or other pairings etc. It's not that I dislike these pairings, I respect that anyone can ship whatever they want, but I prefer Shinji x Asuka so as a word of warning, this will be the most likely pairing that will be in this story. I apologise if you find it bad now, and constructive criticism is appreciated, but please _**no Flaming! **_Thanks and I hope you enjoy! R&R!_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Evangelion, nor anything relating to it. But I so wish I did!_

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><p>Hopeless.<p>

I felt utterly hopeless as I lay there on the sand beside Asuka after having narrowly prevented the potential annihilation of the remainder of the Human Race in the Third Impact.

For all we knew, Asuka and I were the last people who weren't LCL Gloop on the entire Planet.

Things looked Hopeless, there wasn't any other way to look at our current predicament.

I was to spend the remainder of my days, whether they be long or short, trying to survive on scraps left behind and eventually attempt to restart the Human Race with... my German Fiery Red-headed companion.

Well, admittedly, that last part wasn't such a bad thing in my eyes, but I'm more confident that Asuka herself wouldn't be as fond of the idea as I was, so I was going to try and put off the issue for as long as possible until she herself brought it up.

I was also beginning to wonder why I was stuck on a beach after Third Impact with Asuka of all people.

I could understand if it was Misato, I looked up to her like an older sister.

If it was Toji or Kensuke, or even both, then I'd think it was because they were my friends, here to support me.

I could understand if anyone else was here with me on this beach, but of all the people, I just couldn't explain why some Omnipotent force had placed me with the Great Asuka Langley Soryu – who I had just tried to strangle.

I'm still unsure as to what came over me when I subconsciously climbed onto Asuka and proceeded to choke her to death, until she cupped my cheek almost... intimately. This shock caused me to snap back to my senses and release my grip.

As I sobbed over all that I had done, the only reaction I received from Asuka was a muttered "How Disgusting". In all honesty, I agreed.

I was disgusted over my role in the Third Impact; disgusted over my own failure to help Asuka in her time of need; disgusted I didn't use my own initiative and get off my damn ass to help everyone against the JSSDF invasion; disgusted that it took a dying Misato to rouse me out of my sulking to try to reach Unit 01; but most of all, I was disgusted with myself.

I don't know how much time had passed since I rolled off of Asuka and pulled myself into a pathetic, whimpering ball of sobs, spending too much time just thinking about what went wrong, what I could have done to prevent it, and how things wouldn't have gotten so fucked up if I had done it.

But Instrumentality, despite everything it has done to fuck up my life and others, how it has influenced the delusional but powerful members of SEELE and my own Father at NERV to act and what it has now caused, it was a great learning experience for me. It's funny how it took the near-literal ending of the World to cause a meek, cowardly teenage boy to realise the error of his ways.

After a long time of running away and sobbing I finally decided, there and then, to pull myself out of the metaphorical gutter I had made my home in and face reality head on forthwith. No more running away, no more cowering behind others. From now onwards, I Shinji Ikari am going to stand my ground and be myself.

And it was with this new-found state of mind that I picked myself off the sand and finally took a good look of the World. It looked like shit.

First of all, I was faced with half a head of my late albino friend, Rei Ayanami. It took me a few minutes for my mind to get over the shock and disgust I felt when I saw this.

Secondly, I looked out to a sea of LCL which looked blood red, reflecting the light of the sky – also blood red. Everything around me had at least a slight tint of red, including the red-head who I found, to my surprise, was still lying on the ground, but now staring up at me with her ocean-blue eye.

I became lost as I continued to stare in the one thing I found in my surroundings that wasn't tinted red. Until I realised that Asuka had now got up herself and was slowly striding towards me.

I froze when I realised she was coming my way, and had no idea what she planned to do. I remained silent as she finally stopped inches from me.

I finally resorted to closing my eyes as I was prepared to receive whatever punishment my red-headed companion decided to give me for whichever of the reasons I was aware she had.

I let out a quiet 'yelp' when I felt soft thin arms glomp me suddenly, opening my eyes to find Asuka firmly hugging my torso. To say I was surprised was a bit of an understatement right now.

I had no idea how to respond, so I did the only thing that came to mind – I hugged her back. As I released the breath I didn't know I was holding, I came to realise that this was more comfortable than I thought it was going to be.

Ever since I could remember, I'd always wanted to do something along the lines of hugging Asuka. I admired her. She was smart, brave, determined, beautiful and popular in my eyes. Despite her fiery personality, I saw her as someone I looked up to and wished to be like. I also admitted that my new-found state-of-mind was partially inspired by her.

I'd also be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for her, I mean, who doesn't develop feelings for a girl if you're forced to live with them in very close proximity for a period of time over 6 months; especially if said girl is the hottest girl around.

Of course, I convinced myself that despite her insults and commands, I wasn't in the same league as her; thus I squared away my fantasies of going on a date with her in the back of my mind. Still, it didn't exactly stop her from falsely accusing me of being a _'perverted baka' _whenever she got the chance. Still, beneath it all, I didn't mind as I was able to subtly see the person underneath the intricate mask that she always donned. Beneath all the insults and teasing and commands, she was just like me; this fact being further proved after Instrumentality, where I saw most of her secrets and memories.

My deep ramblings were interrupted as Asuka released her hold on me and moved away. As she did so, I also relinquished my hold on her. When I gazed upon her features, I found them to have returned to a more familiar expression that wasn't the soulless gaze she had minutes before. I realised that Asuka was finally back to herself.

Which was why I wasn't surprised when the first thing she said was "Baka".

After everything that has happened, this small gem of normality between us caused a wave of relief to wash over me. This feeling was too overwhelming for me, so I released it by doing something I don't normally do.

It started small; just a small chuckle resonating from the back of my throat. But steadily it started to increase in volume, until it had become a normal bout of laughter; and before I knew it, I was on the floor clutching my sides and struggling to contain my amusement at Asuka's trivial statement. I also noticed that Asuka had also joined me in laughing herself silly.

Eventually, we both recovered from our amusement, but we both felt that the tension between us was now torn to shreds and we were both more relaxed around each other.

We just sat on the beach staring across the LCL sea together, until we both heard a large synchronised grumble from both of our stomachs.

"Whoops, forgot about food" I stated.

This caused a small chuckle as Asuka just rolled her eyes at me.

"Baka, we are still Human, of course we need food." Asuka replied, with a tone of amusement.

"Ok, you stay here and start a fire while I head to Tokyo-3 to collect supplies?" I spoke as I proceeded to stand up and brush sand from my clothes.

"No, I'm coming with you." Asuka quickly snapped as she leapt up and grabbed my hand.

This sudden action startled me a little, but once I recovered I gave her a quizzical look as we started walking.

Soon she noticed the look I was aiming at her and she barely whispered "I don't want to be alone."

Satisfied, I decided to lay off further questioning and give her some metaphorical space as we proceeded in silence, enjoying each other's company.

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><p><strong>Author Notes: <strong>_And there you go! My first chapter of my first Fanfic. I know not much happened but the purpose of this chapter is to set-up the change in Shinji and Asuka's characters. I plan on having Shinji just a bit more open and confident with himself like he was during the first half of the original series, those were the best parts in my opinion, before everything started spiralling down into psychological anarchy and depression. I'm also making Asuka less bitchy, mostly due to what she now knows, with her Mother's soul watching out and protecting her in Unit 02 and I'm also going to have Asuka open up more to Shinji as I'm sure she would of if Shinji was more confident in the original series and responded to her subtle advances._

_So essentially this is a 'what if' with Asuka and Shinji's relationship as well._

_Anyway, next chapter will be where the prologue ends and the plot actually starts after that, so look forward to that if you like my story._

_Remember to leave Reviews! Until next time!_

_- Western-Otaku_


	2. Prologue Part 2

**Author Notes:** _Okay guys, back for chapter 2? Well I'm glad you are! This chapter is where the plot actually starts, so this time there will be more stuff actually happening and less rambling from Shinji. In real-time, I only published the Prologue less than half-an-hour ago so I'm quite eager to write a good chunk of the story. Still just a novice writer so I wouldn't expect a work of art if I were you. I realise that this kind of plot isn't very original but I just wanted to try my own hand at it and also to use this fic as a starter as it is my first. Anyway, should be more action in this chapter. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Evangelion, nor anything relating to it. But I so wish I did!_

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><p>We have been walking for just over an hour now.<p>

We've just entered the city limits of what once was Tokyo-3. It wasn't a pretty sight.

By this time, we were considerably hungry and were pretty desperate for any food we could find.

We navigated ourselves through the large amounts of rubble and collapsed buildings, most likely caused by the Third Impact, until we reached a familiar food store I usually went to do the weekly shop for ingredients to cook with back before Instrumentality and the Third Impact.

We both grabbed shopping trolleys and proceeded to grab all the canned and preserved items that we could, the fresh foods were already spoiled and so were the meats and the frozen foods due to no electricity keeping any of the refrigerators running.

Once I was done with the canned soup aisles, I thought to check the in-store pharmacy for any medical supplies in-case we needed them or if Asuka's wounds needed tending to. She was still wearing the bandages, but as of yet, she hasn't complained about them, nor was she moving with difficulty. Still, better safe than sorry.

I was able to recover a large supply of band-aids and antiseptics as well as painkillers and fresh bandages. I was about to make my way back to the entrance where I said I'd meet Asuka until I stumbled past a small shelf in my clumsiness, knocking it over and sending it's contents across the floor. I was going to pay no more attention to it until I realised that the shelf contained a large supply of Condoms.

I couldn't help but become slightly amused as a barrage of imagery very worthy of being deemed 'perverted' assaulted my mind at that moment. After spending no more than a few seconds of beating my perverted side into cowering in the corner of my mind, I returned to business. We had more important matters at hand than just sitting there dreaming of what I could do to Asuka if she took her plugsuit off... damn! Think unperverted thoughts! Think of... Toji and Kensuke in bikinis!...

"Eww!"

I couldn't help but voice my obvious disgust that was caused by that particular imagery. I also had to prevent myself from hurling whatever was still in my stomach out right there and then.

Once I had sufficiently recovered, I made my way back to the entrance of the store to find Asuka standing there and tapping her foot just a tad impatiently.

"It's about time baka! What took you so long? Did you find a dirty magazine and spend a few seconds releasing your load?"

Same old Asuka.

"No, I stopped by the Pharmacy to get supplies in-case you or I needed them."

My thoughtful consideration seemed to catch her off guard a little and she couldn't help but just stand there with a faint blush as she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, trying to come up with a worthy retort. After all, this was Asuka, she couldn't have been changed by Instrumentality as much as I have.

"Good thinking Third." was the response she settled on after a few seconds of gaping at me.

I shrugged nonchalantly and walked out of the store with my cart. Asuka followed with her own cart not soon after and we both headed towards the nearby Mall where we agreed to go searching for clothes for Asuka.

Of course, having access to any of the clothes on display that she liked without having to pay – as there was no-one to pay – caused Asuka to end up squealing in delight and start shoving all sorts of clothing into her trolley. I was just glad she didn't decide to try them on or give them to me to hold.

Asuka also couldn't help but shove some clothes for men into my trolley, complaining that I had no sense of style at all. I only retorted with a half-assed response of "I don't really mind what I wear, nor did I have the time to go shopping for clothes myself."

In truth, I did like wearing nice clothes, but years of conditioning from living with my Sensei had forced me to be content with wearing simple plain clothing such as my school uniform for most of the time. I also didn't have much of my own money to spend and didn't like borrowing off of others.

"Jeez, whatever, you can just wear what I gave you; I'm sure with my fashion-sense, even you would look good." she half mumbled.

By the time we were done, I was sure that Asuka had almost cleared out all the clothing stores we had come across, leaving not very much behind. Was she expecting to be able to wear all these clothes at once or something? She had enough clothes in her collection that if she went and wore a new one from her collection everyday, she'd be able to last a whole year or longer before wearing one she's wore before, she just had that many clothes. And I had to admit, the smaller collection of clothes that she picked for me were also quite flattering.

What stopped us from continuing on to more clothing stores was the fact that both trolleys were overflowing and we were rapidly losing light. Luckily our old apartment complex wasn't far from where we currently were right now, so we both came to the resolution that we would sleep there tonight.

While navigating streets filled with rubble was difficult on foot, it was even more difficult when dragging two trolleys full of items with you. Thankfully, the walk was short and soon we were outside of Misato's apartment. Surprisingly, the entire building was one of the few that were still standing. I swear that this apartment was invincible or something, it not only survived all of the angel attacks but also the Third Impact.

It took quite the effort to cram a trolley into a lift and send it up to the right floor while Asuka and I took the stairs as the lifts weren't large enough for a trolley and a person.

It wasn't until about an hour later, that we had finished stowing away our collections of clothes and had eaten a feast of microwaved canned soup and beans. We didn't have any access to gas but surprisingly the water and electricity to the apartment complex was still up and running, but consequently the boiler was off.

Still we were able to make ourselves a hot bath using a kettle. Asuka needed one more than I did as she hadn't had a chance to scrub the LCL off her body from being in Unit 02 during her last stand. Sadly I was stuck with using her left over bath water just to conveniently save time and water.

We also undid the Asuka's bandages, only to find she had no signs of injury at all, not even scars. Her eye was also fully functioning too, so it turned out the supplies I collected weren't needed right now.

After a long and unusual day, we both retired to our own rooms, were I collapsed on top of my own, old futon.

Within seconds I was sound asleep.

In my sleep, I found myself confronted with a figure clad in a white short-sleeved button-up shirt and black slacks, with grey hair and red eyes.

"Kaworu!?" I exclaimed in shock upon recognising my old friend.

"Hello Shinji, it's been awhile hasn't it?"

"You're alive?!"

"Yes and No, my body was destroyed, but my soul remains. I was given the chance to come visit you after you prevented Instrumentality."

"Given a chance by who?"

"I'm afraid that I'm unable to tell you, for even I am unsure as to who it was who gave me this chance. I'd hazard a guess and say that it was the being that you Lilim refer to as God." Kaworu stated calmly.

I was quite shocked at this revelation. The God who I was once firmly convinced didn't exist had given my old friend Kaworu a chance to come visit me after preventing Instrumentality. I felt flattered.

"I'm sorry... For what happened" I said after visibly slumping.

Kaworu chuckled as he calmly replied "Don't you forget that I told you to do it, and if you hadn't killed me, I would have killed all of you instead."

I was a little unnerved by Kaworu's response, so I decided to drop the subject.

"So you said you were given a chance to visit me?" I reminded Kaworu in hopes of moving the subject into calmer waters, with less chance of the situation getting out of hand.

"Ah, yes, I was given the chance to come visit you and present you with an opportunity, should you decide to accept it.

"I am offering you, Shinji Ikari, the chance to go back to when all of this started and prevent SEELE and your Father from initiating Instrumentality. I believe Instrumentality is not something that your God intended to happen. As such, you have been chosen to be the one to go back in time and prevent my brothers as well as SEELE and Commander Ikari from achieving Instrumentality. May I also remind you that you can also save your friends from their fate, such as your friend Toji Suzuhara or a certain Mister Ryoji Kaji."

I sat there taking all this in, after all, it's not everyday that you're given the chance to go back in time to correct any mistakes and regrets you may have made in the past.

"Are there any catches or conditions?" I asked.

"No, it is as simple as that. Once you go back, what you do is entirely up to you, as well as how you do it. However, you will be on your own to face the consequences."

"What about Asuka, here right now?"

"She will be fine, time will be re-winded like a tape, so the Asuka in this time-plane will not exist. You do not have to worry about her."

After being reassured that I wasn't abandoning Asuka again, I was very intrigued with the proposition laid before me.

I could stay in this time-plane, with nothing to look forward to aside from living alone with Asuka and the guilt of my actions in the past. Eventually having to try and restart the Human Race again if no-one else returns from Instrumentality with Asuka; that would mean that our children would have to have children with each other – and that did not sound like a great idea at all!

Or I could go back in time and try to start from scratch, attempt to derail my Father's plans for Instrumentality as well as SEELE's plans and save my friends from their fates.

To be honest, I had already made my decision before this monologue started.

"Are you okay with me going back in time to defeat all of your brothers again? As well as you?" I asked with a bit of concern.

"It is no longer a concern for me, as after this encounter, my soul will rejoin with my brothers, as well as my father. The angels you will defeat when you go back in time will be different from me and my brothers."

"Ok, I accept this opportunity." I spoke confidently, without regret, and with a small smile on my face.

"I knew you would." Kaworu says, returning my smile.

"Good Luck, Shinji Ikari. I hope you are able to achieve your goals" Kaworu says as my dream starts to fade from my mind.

I smile and give Kaworu a wave, which he returns, as everything around me fades to white.

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><p>When I opened my eyes, I was blinded by the bright light of the Sun in the Blue Sky above me.<p>

I realised that in my hand I was holding a green payphone that was repeating an emergency automated message.

But I didn't care.

I was back, back to where it all began. Ready to restart my journey. Ready to turn over a new leaf.

"Well, Here we go again!" I exclaimed to my surroundings as I heard the distant hum of VTOL engines fighting a near invincible foe in the distance.

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><p><strong>Author Notes: <strong>_Didn't mean to be corny, but I just had to include the Title in here somewhere. I hope I paced this chapter alright, but in reality I'm an impatient guy and I like reading fanfics that get to the point quickly instead of ones that pace themselves well but spend too long building up to the main plot points. Now that I'm finally onto the real part of the fic, things should get real interesting soon!_

_Remember to leave Reviews! Until next time!_

_- Western-Otaku_


	3. Sachiel Round Two

**Author Notes:** _Okay, I've just had a good night's rest, now to start my first real chapter! Shout out to _**iyaoyas** _and_ **ADeadDiehard** _for being the first people to review! Really appreciate it guys!_

**iyaoyas: **_Don't worry, in reality, I'm a completionist so if it isn't done, my mind will mentally torture me until it is. I just worry whether I'll be able to keep up the story quality until then. Knowing how my mind works, I'll be doing the most random of things such as walking to classes or washing the dishes and suddenly _**BAM **_I come up with the idea to get Unit 01 to eat Gendo and ingest his soul so Yui can scold him for eternity or something _**:P **_So I'll be extra careful to have a pad of sticky-notes with me most of the time for jotting down all the random fantasies (not dirty ones!... all the time) that I come up with that may be worthy of writing down._

**ADeadDiehard: **_Cheers man! I'll tell you for now not to worry, since I'm starting right at the beginning again, it isn't possible to have Asuka show up until at least half-way through the fic, which I find a little sad, but I gotta keep some kind of canon order in this fic. Of course, things will be different this time._

_Also, to be able to tell the story better, I'll be switching POVs here and there, but for the majority of the story, you'll be stuck with Shinji's POV. Make what you will of this. Of course it is up to you to figure out who's POV I'm switching to, otherwise it won't be as interesting if I just outright told you, will it? _**:)**

_Anyway, lets get this on!_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Evangelion, nor anything relating to it. But I so wish I did!_

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><p>When I opened my eyes, I was blinded by the bright light of the Sun in the Blue Sky above me.<p>

I realised that in my hand I was holding a green payphone that was repeating an emergency automated message.

But I didn't care.

I was back, back to where it all began. Ready to restart my journey. Ready to turn over a new leaf.

"Well, Here we go again!" I exclaimed to my surroundings as I heard the distant hum of VTOL engines fighting a near invincible foe in the distance.

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><p>On the large holographic display at the forefront of the room, stood a colossal creature of invincibility and mass destruction.<p>

Well, near invincibility.

I couldn't help but sit back in my trademark pose, which I like to call _'The Pose of Bastardly Smug Superiority'_ and intimidate any poor sod that glances my way... well since I'm never going to say it out-loud, who cares what I call it?

_Today is the day. Today, is where our scenario begins. I've been waiting 11 years for this. Soon... soon my dear._

"It must be 15 years" spoke Kozo Fuyutsuki, my former mentor, fellow conspirator and sub-commander.

I smirked beneath my tented hands and spoke "Yes, certainly."

Fuyutsuki nodded as he spoke with disdain "Angels."

If it weren't for the fact that I was surrounded by sub-ordinates and incompetent JSSDF personnel, I would have chuckled in my amusement.

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><p>Since Misato wasn't going to arrive for another minute or so, I decided to calmly walk to a nearby bench and sit.<p>

I never really noticed the first time around, but it was actually a really nice day today. I think I would have gone to the park, if there wasn't a giant monster, worthy of being Godzilla's cousin, currently thundering through the Urban Suburbs of Tokyo-3.

Mentally, I counted down the seconds before...

A large crash was heard to my left, down the street, followed by a crunch of bending metal; and to top if off, a face-searing explosion materialised.

Now, any normal person - despite already knowing what to expect after going through this already – would have cried out in shock and scrambled to get away.

However, I am not exactly normal anymore. After over a year of combat training in the Eva, I noticed that my mind's pain receptors had adapted quite well to the daily abuse I received. I'm sure if I broke my arm now, the pain I would receive from this would only equate to receiving a large cut. In all honesty, I should probably be worried, but since all the rest of my senses and reflexes are fine, in fact, I'd say that you could describe them as in tip-top condition – once again, thanks to my training as an Eva pilot and having to live with a diabolical red-head for a while... - I felt like I had nothing to worry about.

So, back to the present; as I wasn't exactly a normal person, when a V-TOL internally combusted into oblivion and discharged a large heat-wave at the exposed skin of my face, I regarded it as if it was just a warm breeze.

_Now, if she's still the same as I remember, she'll be here in 3... 2... 1..., ah._

Out of no-where, a sleek, new, blue Renault Alpine A 110-50 sports car appears in front of me, with a buxom lavender-haired beauty to whisk me away to my former personal hell.

_Still, it was good to see Misato, in all her glory... and I missed her assets considerably... oh god damn it! What is wrong with you?! It's Misato!_

It seems my internal debate with my perverted side and my rational side caused my body to freeze up in real-time for a few moments. Of course, this only caused Misato to start screaming at me to force me to come to my senses and dive into the car, before Godzilla's cousin decides that the blue car looks better as a flat pancake than a usable vehicle.

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><p>By this time, I was starting to grow impatient, as the Generals sent by the JSSDF struggled to show proof that they weren't totally useless in the fight against the Angel.<p>

Sadly, for them, they were beyond useless.

To the Angel, their forces were nothing more than pests. Their attacks having no more effect than a fly does to an Elephant.

Still, patience is a virtue. Thus I found myself still sitting patiently, awaiting the JSSDF to finish their pitiful performance with their own trump-card.

At least I found this display, somewhat, amusing.

Fuyutsuki chose this moment to speak his own words of wisdom, "It is protected by an AT-Field, as we expected."

I went and added my own two cents, despite the fact that we both knew that we were merely stating the obvious, just for the hell of it, "Conventional Weapons have no effect on Angels." Of course, this wasn't going to stop the JSSDF from expending billions from their budget within a span of just 5 minutes in ordinance.

_They should have spent the money giving it away to charity; at least then it would have been spent on something that would actually be mildly beneficial to society. Incompetents._

I mentally sighed, just as the JSSDF finally authorised the use of their last resort.

_At least it will be interesting to see what effect an N2 Mine has on an AT-Field._

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><p>After about 5 minutes of reckless driving, worthy of breaking at least 7 Traffic Laws, which I found myself enjoying this time around, having missed that aspect of Misato, we reached a tunnel just before Misato was supposed to stop and survey the explosion of an N2 Mine.<p>

Of course, for both our benefits, this event was definitely worth changing in history.

"Um, miss?" Careful to remember that I wasn't suppose to know Misato at this point, "Please stop the car."

Despite the quiet delivery of my request, Misato proceeded to slam the brakes down hard. Within a span of 2 seconds, we went from going 65 mph to 0.

"What is it?!" Misato shrieked with concern. I suppose she thought I was more urgent than I intended.

"Just a word of warning, I think the JSSDF are currently deploying an N2 Mine" I politely stated.

At first Misato looked at me as if I just told her that the Sky was Red – well, it's not as impossible as people think anymore, I can attest to that – before a large shock-wave caused the entire tunnel to shudder and parts of the ceiling of the Tunnel to drop.

When the shock-wave had passed, and the car was perfectly fine, I turned back to Misato. I found her gazing at me in amazement and shock.

"How did you know that?" she squeaked out, rather cutely I might add... oh c'mon! I need to mentally shackle my inner pervert away later.

"Well, everyone knows about the JSSDF, and everyone also knows that the N2 Mine is the most powerful weapon in the JSSDF's arsenal. If you were paying attention, all the V-TOLS that were flying around earlier firing ordinance at that... thing," careful not to slip up, "had stopped a while ago, it was a logical guess that they were going to use the N2 Mine against that thing sometime soon. It looks like my guess saved you a lot of damage on your car." I added with a small smile to make her feel more at ease.

It took Misato a few seconds to ponder my response, but I suppose eventually she just took it as a good enough excuse. After all, the truth would be way more unbelievable.

"Wow, you're quite observant aren't you? And here I thought you were just a cutie!" Misato said, slipping into mild teasing mode at the end.

I blushed just a little, which caused Misato to giggle. Despite expecting her teasing before-hand, it's still very hard not to blush if an attractive woman calls you cute.

"Anyway, I guess I haven't introduced myself yet have I?"

_'No need, I already know quite a lot about you' _I kept to myself.

"My name's Misato Katsuragi, and of course I already know who you are, Shinji Ikari." she said with a wink.

I smiled, "Shinji's just fine."

"Well, you can also just call me Misato then." she added, while she restarted the engine and shifted into gear.

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><p>Ah, those idiots have finally witnessed the true power of the Angels. I wish I had a camera to use to capture the priceless look on their faces as the N2 Mine did nothing more than cause the Angel to pause it's attack.<p>

2 whole minutes of whining and complaining from the JSSDF personnel passed, before one of the Generals finally conceded and turned to me.

"You are the commander of this operation from now on. We'll be watching to see how you deal with it." he spoke with a barely-hidden lack of enthusiasm.

"Yes, sir." I spoke.

"Our measures have had no effect on the target. Are you certain that you can do better?" One of the other Generals asked.

"Of course, we will defeat it. After all, this was what NERV was created for." I proudly spoke in my trademark voice of Authority.

_Damn, I'm cool. Now, to top off my performance, I'll just push my favourite specs up my face with a flash... perfect. You got this man._

I couldn't help but smirk at my own thoughts. I'm sure if there was anyone currently reading my mind, they'd be so blown away by my awesomeness.

As the JSSDF representatives leave the room by sinking into the floor, Fuyutsuki comes to confirm my battle plan.

"The UN Troops can't fight it... what are you going to do?" he inquired.

"I'm going to activate Unit 01." I responded, of course he should have already deduced my plan of action before even asking.

"Unit 01? But we have no pilot!" Fuyutsuki interjected.

_It seems my former mentor isn't so sharp these days._

"Not to worry, a spare is on it's way." I spoke, referring to that which I use to call my Son.

_I wonder how much of a pathetic wimp he is now?..._

* * *

><p>It was right then that I was engaged in an extensive sneezing fit as we made our way onto the car lift that would deliver us into the Geofront. Although despite my sneezing, I still acted as if this was all new to me.<p>

Once I calmed down, I proceeded to fill out my role from last time.

"Are we going to where my father is?" I asked in a neutral voice.

In all fairness, it's going to take some restraint to not use Unit 01 to 'accidentally' crush Gendo under my foot. This time, I'm not going to blindly follow him as he leads us all down his damn scenario, hoping for his worthless approval.

"Well. Yes, we are." Misato responded.

As I further spent time musing on what I could do that would cause Gendo the most pain before I allowed him to bite the dust, a silence developed between us. It was obvious that Misato wasn't very comfortable with silence so she asked the first thing that came to mind.

"By the way, were you given an ID by your father?" she asked.

"Oh, yes."

I rummaged through my bag in the vague position I remember I stored it in.

"Here it is." I said as I handed it to her, along with the letter Gendo sent me to come.

"Thanks! Here read this."

She handed me a NERV employee's introductory manual. I pretended to read it with interest, but in actual fact I was sure I was more well-rehearsed with all of NERV's protocols than Misato was herself at this time.

_She was never one to just sit and read manuals... or paperwork for that matter._

Suddenly we were treated to a view of the Geofront itself. Despite being used to the view, I couldn't help but smile as I gazed upon it in all it's glory.

_Yep, it definitely looks better without a gargantuan crater above it, Mass Produced Evas walking around, the remnants of Unit 02 spread everywhere, construction work from the 14th Angel attack or any of the other stuff. I'm going to keep it this way this time._

Misato noticed my smile as she spoke, "Well, this is the Geofront; our secret base, as well as NERV Headquarters. It's also the foundation for rebuilding the world and the fort for the Human Race."

This time I couldn't help but notice the pride she spoke with in her tone.

* * *

><p>About half-an-hour later I found myself following Misato as she stumbled around NERV in circles. It took a great amount of mental effort to not grasp Misato's hand and lead us through NERV straight into the Eva cages where Unit 01 was waiting.<p>

"That's strange, I'm sure this was the right way..." she half spoke, half asked.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"I'd really rather not wear a skirt in this place. Anyway, where has Ritsuko gone? Sorry, I'm not that familiar with this place yet." she spoke. Why is she worried about her skirt?

"We've been going around in circles in this place." I added, trying to be a little helpful.

Misato looked at me a little surprised. I just pointed to a spot further along on the floor where I had dropped the NERV manual previously. Misato couldn't help but chuckle a little at our predicament.

"Aw don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to get there eventually." she said.

I was quite sure that if Ritsuko hadn't shown up just then, with an annoyed frown on her face, we wouldn't have made it to Unit 01 until the Angel had made it's way past all of NERV's other defences and was in Terminal Dogma.

"Uhhm, Ha... Hi, Ritsuko..." Misato greeted, with a nervous smile, as if she were a child caught sneaking her hand into the cookie jar before Dinner.

"What did you do, Captain Katsuragi? We are short of hands and time!" Ritsuko spoke impatiently.

Of course, I mentally noted that Misato was Captain now, not Major.

"Sorry." she apologised, with a childish smile.

Her smile spread to my face upon seeing her expression as Ritsuko turned her attention to me.

"Is this the Third Child?" she asked, giving me a critical once-over as if I was a new test subject.

_You need to work on your people skills Doctor, people would like you better if you did._

Before Misato could speak for me, I responded, "Shinji Ikari, nice to meet you."

I held out my hand for a brief handshake. This took Ritsuko by surprise, but she returned the handshake nevertheless.

_I guess she was expecting me to be quiet and depressed then... Well, all she had on me before-hand was my psych profile, so that shouldn't really be a surprise._

"Well, it's nice to meet you too Ikari. I'm Ritsuko Akagi, NERV's chief scientist and head of project E, which you will be involved in" she said.

"Oh, Shinji is just fine, I don't really like formality. Can I call you Ritsuko? And what is project E, if I'm allowed to ask?" I said, keeping to my role.

"Of course, and you'll be finding out soon." she said, with a small smile.

_I suppose she's looking forward to surprising me with the big reveal of Unit 01... well, we'll see. Time to think of what to do when I see Unit 01 again and face my fath-... Gendo I mean. That man lost his chance to still be considered my father by me._

* * *

><p>I suddenly had a large urge to sneeze, but held it in as I made my way to my personal lift to head down to the Eva cages.<p>

"Well, I'll trust you to handle things here while I'm away." I spoke as I descended from the Command Centre and out of sight.

Once out of sight, I let loose a sneeze... as well as some gas that I had been holding in for about a minute now.

_I think I'll lay off the beans, I feel really gassy._

* * *

><p>Ritsuko and Misato led me to a large room, shrouded in darkness.<p>

_Well, time to shine I guess; seriously, this unveiling is just over-the-top and unnecessary. You people are trying too hard._

I could already make out the shape of Unit 01's elongated shoulder pylons as well as Unit 01's trademark horn.

I waited for a few seconds before all the lights were switched on at once, with the purpose of blinding the occupants.

As we were met with the full view of Unit 01's head, and I faintly noticed all the people in the room had trained their gazes upon me, I internally smirked.

"Meh, it's just a Robot." I spoke with disinterest.

I couldn't help but burst into laughter as Ritsuko fell off the walkway and into the LCL below and all the techs face-planted from the shock. Misato stood for a few seconds gaping at me, before she too burst into a fit of laughter as she spotted my act and noticed the reactions of everyone else.

_Ah, that was priceless_

It took a few minutes for Ritsuko to pull herself out of the LCL before she gave me a mock-scowl as she caught the joke. That was when **he **decided to start speaking.

"If, you have all finished." he stated, his voice being projected through the PA system directly into the cage. Despite speaking at normal volume, his voice had the intention to intimidate the average person.

"Gendo." I acknowledged, making it clear that I didn't consider him a father.

_Well, here we go then._

"What do you think of our creation here?" he asked, but I'm sure it was just a prompt really for Ritsuko to speak.

"This here is NERV's Multi-purpose Humanoid Fighting Machine, Evangelion, built by Humanity to save Humanity. Our last and only effective resort resort against the Angels" she said.

"You will be the pilot of Eva Unit 01." Gendo said as he gestured with a small nod towards the Eva in front of me, with a hint of finality.

I spent a few moments considering how to go about this, before I reached a conclusion.

"I will pilot, but first I have a few conditions, if you'd please hear them out." I spoke politely, but mentally I was gritting my teeth.

It wasn't hard to see Gendo's face twitch into a scowl, but I suppose he is somewhat reasonable as he agreed.

"Okay then, Condition number 1. I'd like to be paid for this. I mean, I'm going to end up getting killed in this thing if my guess on what I'll be fighting is correct." I stated.

"Your NERV ID that you will be issued as a pilot will not only allow you access to NERV, but it also doubles as a Credit Card with near unlimited funds, so long as you do not spend the money on anything ridiculous or unreasonable. Your spending will be recorded on NERV logs and examined monthly by the finance department, so they will decide if your spending must be controlled." he replied.

_Wow, all this time and nobody thought to tell me that I could use my NERV ID to pay for nearly anything?! I could have actually listened to Asuka and bought better clothes for myself, huh? I was wondering how she seemed to have almost unlimited funds to buy whatever clothes she wanted, and no wonder she has SO MANY clothes in the first place! Damn I'm such an idiot._

After recovering from my monologue, I continued with my conditions.

"Okay, fair enough. Condition number 2. I may be working for you," I admitted grudgingly, "but aside from telling me what to do in the Eva, you cannot control me outside of my piloting duties, clear?"

I swear I could see a vein pop out of his forehead, "As long as you fulfil your duties, what you do outside of NERV is of no concern to me. As for your actions within NERV, we shall see..." he responded, non-committally.

_Good enough for me, for now._

"Alright, and finally, my last condition, I'm allowed full control over the Eva. By this, I mean that the Eva is allocated to me; anything you do to Unit 01 has to have my approval, such as modifications, tests, the works. Is that not reasonable?" I asked.

I could see that Gendo was starting to get impatient, "Yes, fine." he relented.

I did a small victory dance in my mind as I basically just got a one-up over Gendo.

"Okay then, you got yourself a pilot then." I said, much to the relief of everyone around me.

_I suppose I was starting to give people the idea that I didn't want to pilot. But it seems that I'll have to do it again if I'm going to stop SEELE's plans as well as my father's._

* * *

><p>Once Shinji agreed, I turned and made my way back to the command centre, wanting nothing more from him.<p>

_Dammit, he's no longer the pathetic, spineless wimp I thought he was. In some ways, I'm proud of him, but I think I'm definitely going to regret being so lenient for him just this once. But I was really looking forward to using the contingencies that I put in place to force him under my foot and to pilot Unit 01. I didn't even get to use Rei! That was a waste of time having her bed waiting in the corridor outside. So long, as he delivers and follows the scenario, my plan should still work._

_Don't worry Yui, you'll come back to me soon._

* * *

><p>As Gendo left, I felt a small bit of relief wash over me.<p>

_I thought that was going to be harder, but I'll take it._

Still satisfied with my victory, I paid little attention as Ritsuko prepped me and Unit 01 for launch.

"We don't have time to make you a plugsuit yet, so that will have to wait until after the battle. Put these A-10 connectors on your head please." she said.

_At least she said please, maybe she has more people skills than I thought..._

As I put the clips on my head, Ritsuko rapidly gave orders to the various techs. Soon, I found myself sitting inside the entry plug of Unit 01 as the plug was sealed and inserted into the Eva and filled with LCL. Of course, Ritsuko was disappointed when I didn't bat an eye at the LCL and started breathing it easily after being informed of it's properties.

_Well, it feels like it's been a while huh? I can admit, knowing the fact that my Mum is in here somewhere makes piloting a lot better than last time._

**'Hello dear'**

I jumped a foot off of the seat as I heard a voice resonating within my mind. Luckily I closed the comm link before-hand, so no-one saw my reaction.

**'There's no need to fear, it's me! Mum. As you started syncing with Unit 01, your unique brainwaves caused by your past memories caused me to awaken. I can also see into your mind, so I know what you're thinking and all that you've seen.'**

_Well that's a little unnerving, but it's good to talk to you again Mum_

**'And you dear, now are you ready to do this?'**

_More ready than last time, that's for sure._

**'Good Luck, I'll be looking out for you if things go wrong'**

I felt much more reassured that this time around, I'll likely have my Mum with me all the way.

"Doctor, the pilot's sync ratio is over 70%!" I think Maya was the one to say that.

"Oh my god, that's just as good as Asuka in Germany, and he doesn't even have a plugsuit on! He's a natural!" Ritsuko shouted.

_Well, it's probably Mum doing that, and also thanks to my Eva training last time_

**'I can say that it is mostly you and your training that's raising your ratio'**

_Well, that's good to know, but I'm sure Asuka is going to be even more jealous this time when I meet her again._

I continued to sit in the seat as the techs finished their work and the command centre walked through the process of removing all the restraints in place. At last, I was moved out of the cages towards the launch tunnels.

_Well, time for the best part!_

"Evangelion, LAUNCH!" Misato commanded through the Comm.

I was immediately assaulted by the G-Forces that occur when you move a 40 meter tall Bio-mechanical fighting machine through a series or rail tunnels at over 120 mph, but I was enjoying it.

Soon, the Eva came to an abrupt halt. As the restraints were released, I gazed at the Angel in front of me.

_Sachiel._

**'Remember to be careful, it might self-destruct again'**

_Don't worry Mum, I've got this sorted, compared to Zeruel the 14th Angel, this one's just child's play._

**'Don't get overconfident. And may I remind you to watch out for Toji's little sister too?'**

_Thanks for the reminder Mum._

"Well, let's dance." I spoke.

"Okay Shinji, just concentrate on walking for now." Ritsuko's voice came through the Comm.

"Just leave it to me guys." I said, before I crouched and leapt at the Angel, doing a backflip and landing on the Angel's AT-Field.

_Extend the AT-Field Mum_

**'Of course dear, but you've got to help too, now that I'm here, you can't just sit back and let me do most of the work'**

_Fffffiiinnneee_

Together, we created an AT-Field strong enough to completely cancel out the Angel's AT-Field, and I proceeded to break through and land directly on top of the Angel before it had the chance to release a laser bolt at me.

"Not so tough without your AT-Field, huh?" I said out-loud, lost in the moment.

The Angel seemed to respond by trying to throw me off and onto a nearby building. I willed the Eva to land a powerful right hook directly onto the Angel's core, which temporarily stunned the Angel to stop it's movements. I took advantage of this and proceeded to grab both of it's arms and snap them, rendering them useless.

I then started to pummel the core with a series of jabs repeatedly until I noticed a few cracks forming. I willed the Eva to cartwheel back away from the Angel and onto it's feet. I shrugged my left shoulder and the progressive knife automatically retracted out of the shoulder pylon. After retracting the blade and activating it, I held it in a knife-thrower's hold, by the blade, and tossed it towards the Angel. The blade flew true and at the speed of sound towards it's target before it was embedded deep into the core.

Time stood still for a few moments, before the the core shattered into a million small shards, each one the size of a person, and the Angel collapsed onto the floor.

After releasing a small sigh, proud that I defeated the Angel without getting a single building destroyed, I went and retrieved the knife, before sheathing it in my shoulder pylon and crouching and shutting the Eva off. I then pulled the emergency release switch on the inside of the plug and climbed out once the LCL had drained.

It was a clear night, and the stars were out in the sky, so I sat down on the shoulder of Unit 01 and waited for the retrieval crews to arrive.

After going through the battle in my head again, I realised that I spoke out-loud about an AT-Field, which I wasn't supposed to know about yet.

_Oh well, I'll just say that I over-heard one of Ritsuko's fellow scientists mention a forcefield called an AT-Field. I'm sure they're more than happy that I just defeated an Angel to care much._

I sat back on Unit 01 and gazed up towards the sky.

_The stars sure are bright tonight._

* * *

><p><strong>Author Notes: <strong>_And there we have it! My first chapter, with the real meat of the story! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I think the action scene was a little short, but to be honest, the first fight was a bit of a simple one. Once Unit 01 went berserker, it basically just went and beat the crap out of Sachiel, before it went and self-destruct itself. Now that Shinji has about a whole years worth of Eva training under his belt, and after having to defeat harder angels such as Zeruel, Sachiel just looked like a pushover Angel. I also hope people liked the small amounts of humour I added with Gendo. And finally, some people may realise that I upgraded Misato's car to a much more modern, sporty version of the car she's supposed to have in the Original Anime, but I've done research and there is a new concept model of the Renault Alpine which looks SERIOUSLY sporty and modern and expensive, so I replaced it with that because the events of Evangelion are supposed to take place Next year from now (2015) so I decided to modernise what I can _**:)**_  
><em>

_Anyway, expect battle scenes to get more and more extravagant as the story progresses. I've also started to write Shinji's direct thoughts as well as Gendo's direct thoughts in italics in this chapter and for future chapters. Also planning to use more POVs in future chapters too._

_Anyway, hope you liked it!_

_Remember to leave Reviews! Until next time!_

_- Western-Otaku_


	4. Aftermath

**Author Notes:** _Hey Guys! Back with the next update for _**Here we go again!**

_It's good to see people enjoyed the last chapter, I was a bit nervous that the chapter might have failed to deliver, but it seems that it did OK. I'm dialling back Shinji's confidence a little because after re-reading the chapter he started to seem a little too OOC to be... well, Shinji. So I'll make him a little less cocky with himself. I also need to include Rei more, I may not be that fond of her, but she's still an integral character to Evangelion and I still haven't given her a proper entrance yet! _**:( **_I apologise to Rei fans everywhere._

_It's also come to my attention that the scene where Shinji receives pay from NERV was taken out of the popular fanfic _**Rebirth**_ by _**RyoshiMorino**_. At present time, the fanfic is still unfinished and sadly it's been a while since the Author last updated, but there's quite a lot to read anyway and the fanfic is a definite must-read, if you like Shinji x Asuka and better established fanfics that go back in time to the beginning. A word of warning – it's rated M for a reason..._

_Shout out to _**iyaoyas**_, _**ADeadDiehard**_, _**Traitor of All Traitors**_, and the Guest who all reviewed. It seems that Fanfiction took their time in posting Guest's review for my first chapter on the 7th of December, so really your name should have been included in the mentions last chapter, but hey! You made it here!_

_Alright, the Author Notes is getting too long, so let's do this!_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Evangelion, nor anything relating to it. But I so wish I did!_

* * *

><p>As I looked on in excitement, anticipation, nervousness... and a tiny bit of arousal... I couldn't help but bite my nails and watch as Shinji faced down the Third Angel – Sachiel.<p>

_Good Luck Shinji_ was all that came to mind as Sachiel turned to face Unit 01.

Shinji had a look of exasperation, but also determination upon his face as Misato gave the order to release the final safety locks and to move out.

As Unit 01 slumped forward, I decided to be the one to guide Shinji through controlling Unit 01; after all, this is the first time he's even sat inside of it.

As Shinji confirmed he was ready to fight, I spoke, "Okay Shinji, just concentrate on walking for now."

What he responded with re-assured us all in the command centre, "Just leave it to me guys."

_Of course we will, we've got no other choice. If we did, you would be the furthest from the Angel right now._ I mentally added as I looked on in sympathy. What happened next, however, was nothing less than a miracle in my books...

Unit 01 suddenly sank into a crouched position, building up power in it's legs, before it released the amassed tension and pushed off the ground and leaped several yards into the air. While in the air, Unit 01 did a perfect mid-air somersault, worthy of impressing judges at a simple gymnastics competition on a normal day, before landing directly on top of Sachiel.

Of course, Sachiel deployed his AT-Field before Unit 01 could actually make contact with it, thus causing Unit 01 to be suspended in the air directly above Sachiel as if it were just crouching upon solid ground.

I swear I heard the entire command centre gasp in shock at Unit 01's abilities, being too used to just seeing the purple giant standing in an Eva cage all day, only being taken out for the occasional sync test for Rei before-hand, but this was really the first time anyone had ever seen what the Evas were truly capable of.

_It's almost as if it's moving like an actual person! How the hell is Shinji able to pull this off?! Did Gendo secretly train him to pilot before he arrived? That young man's going to have some questions to answer!_

The entirety of the command centre continued to watch in awe as Unit 01 persisted in it's confrontation with Sachiel. We were all so stunned that no-one realised that the whole point in us watching the battle was to provide tactical support and back-up for the Eva... but it was so hard not to just watch. Like an action scene from a big blockbuster movie, no-one could resist the temptation to cease all operations and pay full attention to the events being displayed before our very eyes until the whole performance had ended.

"Not so tough without your AT-Field, huh?" was spoken out-loud. That alone was able to somewhat snap me back to my senses as I pondered Shinji's outburst.

_First he manoeuvres Unit 01 as if it were an extension of his own Human Body, next he performs feats no-one has ever witnessed before in an Eva, then he is able to generate his own AT-Field using the Eva at will AND neutralise an Angel's AT-Field, and as the cherry-on-top, he's also aware of an AT-Field and it's properties! Shinji Ikari, you are either a spy, a genius, a natural Eva pilot or some time traveller sent from the future where you've already received full Eva training and have discovered all the secrets of Eva... hahahaha! Yeah, right Ritsuko, that'll be the day I resign as NERV's chief scientist and go work as a University Lecturer._

And with that, I dismissed the whole notion for the time being as Shinji pulled out Unit 01's progressive knife and executed a textbook Knife-throw manoeuvre and strike the Angel's core.

_Bullseye! _I mentally praised, as everyone currently watching in NERV held their breath. It wasn't until reviewing the archived footage at a much later date that I realised that Shinji was able to deploy his progressive knife despite not yet being briefed of the Eva's standard issue armaments at this time.

After a few seconds, which passed by like hours, the Core relented and imploded into a million shards the size of the average Human being.

And that was when the cheering started. All around I could see Bridge bunnies jump up from their workstations and proceed to hug their fellow co-workers, all with equal enthusiasm, as the notion dawned upon us all that Humanity had just made their first triumph against the Angels in what was going to be known in the future as the first true battle of the Angel Wars.

I cried out as Misato proceeded to sneak up on me from behind and pounce on my poor, hapless self and assault me with one of her infamous bear-hugs. As she glomped onto me and everyone persisted with their celebrations, I turned back to the holographic display to see Unit 01 crouch and deactivate and release the small hero of the hour, who sat back and watched the sky.

_Is that?... He's smiling. _I observed.

_Well he definitely deserves it... but he's still got some answers to give. I'm not letting this go! _I insisted as I carried out Misato's job for her and ordered the recovery teams to mobilise and collect Unit 01.

Then I turned around and joined in on the leftover celebrations for our first victory.

* * *

><p>"So, the Angels have returned."<p>

"It's rather sudden..."

"It's the same as it was 15 years ago. That's the notion about disasters, they strike without warning."

"On the positive side, it would seem that our investments would not prove to be such a waste after all..."

"You cannot be sure about that yet, if it fails to continue paying off, then it's still a waste!"

I mentally groaned as I was involuntarily obligated to sit in and listen to men, long past their prime, argue about events that have already occurred and were beyond the point of amending.

_Please, I would rather spend the day with my _**Son**_ in an 'Amusement Park' than listen to these old fools... Actually, maybe not an Amusement Park, I have bad memories of those..._

I suppressed a shudder in front of the Council as I quickly re-lived all the things that happened to me when some local hooligans decided to spend the day harassing me long ago...

_I still can't ever look at candy floss the same way as I did when I was 8 years old..._

A brief silence passed over the room as I realised that they were expecting me to respond to whatever superficial statement they may have made.

_Better play along I suppose._

"You may rest, assured that it is already taken care of. Don't worry." I said.

_I'm sure that whatever they've said isn't that important anyway... it's not like they were discussing how to deal with news of the Angel attacks or anything... but I suppose I'll need to get on that too._

And so the tedious, monotone meeting perpetuated.

* * *

><p>As the ever present heat left behind by the Second Impact continued to bore down on Tokyo 3, I stood in front of a small portable TV set watching the news of the Angel attack be broadcast across all available channels. I was currently assisting my college buddy Ritsuko as we oversaw the recovery operation of Unit 01.<p>

_Not a scratch huh? That boy must be something else... _I thought as Unit 01 was carefully air-lifted by a fleet of V-TOLs to the nearest Eva recovery point.

"I think that we're going to need to have Shinji learn all of Tokyo-3's Eva recovery lift locations before the next battle, so he can park Unit 01 somewhere where we don't need 20 V-TOLs to personally air-lift the Eva back to the cages." I mused out-loud.

Ritsuko just chuckled light-heartedly as she replied, "Well despite Shinji's stellar performance in the Eva last night, we can't expect him to have already memorized the entire layout of Tokyo-3 for Eva operations."

I noticed that Ritsuko had a far-away look in her eyes, like the majority of her mind was focused elsewhere.

"What'cha doin, Rits?" I spoke, making sure to sound like a curious child. Displaying naivety and innocence was a safe tactic when attempting to goad a target into carelessly releasing potentially critical information, according to my experience as a Military Tactician.

_I'm not just a pretty face!... Although I have to admit, I have that covered pretty well too._

Of course, having known each other for more than 6 years, Ritsuko must have seen through my small spiel.

"I was just thinking..." she said casually.

_Oh... so you're going to play it that way... alright then, game on!_

"Oh my! You Rits? Thinking?! My, whatever has the world come to?" I exclaimed, noting the obvious drama I was injecting into my voice.

"Would the prodigious intellectual, Ritsuko Akagi, care to share her divine wisdom with us common folk?" I said, with emphasis on the word 'wisdom'.

All I ended up getting in response for my act was a playful sigh and a shake of the head.

_Hmmm, maybe I went overboard a little with my competitive nature..._

And so as I fell back onto my last resort, my best puppy-dog eyes, she finally relented.

"Oh fine, you win... I was just thinking about last night's battle." she admitted.

"Are you talking about the battle itself, or the elaborate after-party I threw in the command centre?" I asked with genuine curiosity.

After Shinji's battle with the Angel, to celebrate a near flawless victory, the entirety of the staff posted at NERV at the time, minus Gendo and Fuyutsuki of course, was invited to one of my legendary after-parties, with no shortage of Beer, drunken antics, more Beer, even more drunken antics, club-dancing, Beer pong, bad drunk Karaoke, pranks and last but not least... BEER.

"I'm talking about the battle of course! If it wasn't for your after-party, I wouldn't have a colossal headache right now! Also, we would have been able to conduct this retrieval operation straight after the battle and not right now! During the hottest part of the day in Tokyo-3 with everyone in the recovery teams still recovering from their own hangovers!" she shouted.

_Jeez, keep it down, I may have an invincible Liver (tested and confirmed by the Doctors themselves!) but I still suffer from the odd hangover or two! _ I mentally shrieked; of course I didn't voice my opinion as Ritsuko had every right to complain to me about what happened last night.

"Sorry Rits!" I smiled guiltily as I waved a dismissive hand in front of my face, "But no-one forced you to down that entire jug of Beer yourself!" I added, to try to shift the focus off of myself.

"If I remember correctly before I went off in a drunken stupor, doing god knows what, YOU were the one to dare me to do it!" she shot back.

"I did?" I lamely replied, "Must have been after Makoto 'tripped' and fell face first into my cleavage, making me spill my beer..." I mimicked quotation marks with my hands at the word 'tripped', "but you have to admit, I still got it!" I said happily as I reminisced my complex manoeuvre to drop onto the floor and catch an entire can's worth of Beer in my mouth and drink, without losing one drop of the holy nectar in question, and then finish the motion sequence by using my momentum to cartwheel back onto my feet and grab another can from a nearby Ice cooler, stocked with my own personal supply of Yebisu Beer.

_I can definitely add that to my growing list as one of my finest moments._ I smirked.

"Maybe," Ritsuko shrugged, "anyway, I've just received word that Unit 01 has been successfully loaded onto the Eva Lift. Let's get out of here, I just want to collapse in bed and play with my Cats." she muttered.

"Alright then, I'm off to pick up Shinji." I said.

"Ah yes, I forgot that you decided to take him in. What was your reason again?"

"I just thought that he wouldn't want to live by himself, and since I have a spare room in my apartment that's just being used for storage at the moment, I figured why not? It's a win-win situation! He gets a beautiful room-mate to spend time with when he's lonely on top of living in a decent apartment, and I get my own man-servant!" I smirked evilly.

"You better not be putting the moves on him, Misato. He's just a 14 year old teenage boy. I expect at times for him to be unable to restrain himself and give in to hormonal urges, but I expect better of you." Ritsuko criticised.

"Oh please, I'm not so desperate as start romancing a teenager, just who do you take me for Rits?" I asked rhetorically.

"Oh please, I don't think you want to know that..." she called back as she walked out of the UN-issued Tent we were using as a temporary command point for the recovery operation, and into the bright, hot afternoon.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" I cried as I followed after her with a fan in my hand.

Ever since the Second Impact, the entire world's ecosystem has become severely unbalanced. As a result of this, the entire world suffers from sweltering heat-waves all through the summer, and even more heat-waves through the winter too. I'm pretty sure that most children nowadays will have never seen a proper winter coat before in their entire lives, or even things like Snow either.

_Well, despite all the problems the climate change caused after the Second Impact, I think I'd still prefer the heat more than having to deal with the blistering cold..._

I eventually caught up with Ritsuko as she made her way to a nearby transport ready to take her where-ever she wanted. My own prized Renault Alpine A 110-50 was parked not far off to the side.

"Like I said," she playfully sneered, "I'm sure you wouldn't want to know."

"Hmph, fine, let's see if you still get invited to one of my next parties or not!" I mock-pouted.

At least that garnered a genuine smile out of Ritsuko, "Some things never change... like how mature you are..." she sighed.

I smiled at that. _Hey, there's nothing wrong with enjoying my youth!_

At that, we parted ways as I drove casually to the NERV hospital wing down in the Geofront.

* * *

><p><em>Finally, it seems that this meeting is coming to the point where they pretend that I voluntarily attended, and proceed to explicitly kick me out of the rest of the meeting. Damn old geezers, have a superiority complex even more inflated than the Second Child!<em>

"However I must say, Unit 01 and it's pilot handled the Angel staggeringly well. Is there a reason as to why your Son was the one trained to pilot the Eva?"

"It also seems that the Third Child has not even received official training. You owe us an explanation, Mr. Ikari."

I bit back a colourful retort, "It is a surprise to all of us as to the Third Child's capabilities within the Eva. It seems it was not a mistake to choose my Son as the Third Child" I spoke, doing a first-rate job at covering up what little pride I have for the boy's performance.

_Perhaps I will save the recording in my Personal Theatre collection (alongside footage of Captain Katsuragi using the NERV showers, that one time, and First Lieutenant Ibuki's many... stress-relieving sessions... after assisting Doctor Akagi in her science projects) as something interesting to watch on a rainy day with popcorn... or maybe I'll forgo the popcorn next time and fix myself a bucket of deep-fried chicken. Chicken is the most universally loved meat after all._

"Mr. Ikari, if you could pay attention, please." Some guy who needs to stop being so stubborn and drop dead already, said irritatedly.

"Of course." I replied, with forced courtesy in my tone.

"As we were saying, we wish for you to keep a close watch over the Third Child. His effectiveness in the Eva at this point in time does not concur with the scenario, nor was it foretold in the Dead Sea scrolls. The scrolls predicted that Unit 01 was to defeat the Angel in a berserker rage. However, instead the Third Child was able to best the Angel while retaining full control of the Unit, as well as carrying out his task extremely effectively and not at all damage any of the surrounding buildings." Chairman Keel, SEELE 01, spoke. Likely the oldest among the ranks of SEELE and the No.1 prune of the bunch, it was always him who would have the last say in any discussion between SEELE, no matter the opinion of the other members. "We require more knowledge on the Third Child to assure ourselves that he does not pose a threat to the scenario." He added.

"I will see to it that Section 2 does their best to maintain surveillance on the Third Child and keep NERV fully updated upon his whereabouts and activity." I said. Of course, I was going to keep tabs on my own Son anyway. I may have told him face to face that his actions outside of NERV were of no concern to me, but I'm not completely heartless as to fully ignore the existence of my own Son.

_He could get a girlfriend while he is here in Tokyo-3. I'm not going to miss out on hearing all about _**that**_ now, am I?_

"May I also remind the council, however, that as long as the Angels are defeated, it is of no interest in what manner the Angels are dealt with. Only that they are taken out of the way to allow the Human Instrumentality Project to commence." I said.

"Very well. And last but not least, Mr. Ikari, we'd like to discuss with you about some rumours that we've been hearing lately." Chairman Keel spoke, before his unimportant lackeys in SEELE started to intrude into the discussion.

"The rumours state that you've been spending a considerable amount of money from the budget on your own... personal... projects."

"Without SEELE's approval of these projects, I might add."

"This is unacceptable behaviour, Mr. Ikari. Perhaps you would garner our approval right now if you revealed what these projects entailed?"

I kept a neutral expression, while mentally I was pouncing on every SEELE member present and beating the crap out of them, before personally commissioning an Eva to crush them under it's enormous heel.

_How the hell do they know about those?! I'm sure they won't appreciate me hiring different prostitutes every Saturday night to release my pent-up stress from throughout the working week... nor would they permit me building a hidden private cinema room for my own personal use when I wish to watch my Personal Theatre collection... as well as-_

"We are awaiting your explanation, Mr. Ikari" someone spoke.

_Ah, they're still awaiting my response... think Gendo, think! What did Yui say when asked for an explanation as to what we were doing in the Janitor's closet at the University when we were found by Fuyutsuki?_

"My projects are merely personally conducted research opportunities to observe the effects on the Human Body when subjected to unique stimuli under controlled conditions. The objective of these experiments is to use the data I collect to be able to reproduce these effects on the Evas to see whether they positively affect the Eva's operations or whether they negatively affect them. If proven positive, it should increase the Evas combat effectiveness and perhaps relieve stress from the Evas, as well as-" I drawled in the hopes that the old men would grow uninterested in the rest of my hastily improvised scientific ramble.

"We've heard enough, Mr. Ikari. We approve the application of your projects." Chairman Keel stated with indifference.

"But that is not your only responsibility," One of the old men who thought Gold came out of their own ass, reminded, "The Human Instrumentality Project should be your top priority, not these... side projects."

"Correct, under these current circumstances, despite the Eva's performance, that project may be the only **real **hope for the future of mankind, do you understand?"

"In any event, the Angels, as well as these side projects, are no excuse for the delay in the schedule of that project..." Keel hesitated, "We may consider adjusting the budget to encompass all of this."

I breathed a silent sigh of relief as the meeting wrapped itself up, at least for me, that is.

"The rest of this meeting does not concern you Mr. Ikari, you are dismissed."

"Your presence here was... appreciated."

And with that, the SEELE monoliths dissipated out of view, save SEELE 01.

_Arrogant suck-ups, who's to say that you are anymore valuable to SEELE and Keel as I am? All you men do is sit around and do nothing all day apart from watch daytime television for old people while others do actual work that is beneficial to the Human Race. _I seethed.

"Ikari... you do know that there can be no turning back." Keel said, as his Monolith faded last.

And with that, I was finally released from the mundane SEELE meeting I was required to regularly attend. As I sat alone, I quietly contemplated my thoughts out-loud.

"I know... Mankind has no time left."

_If the Angels do not kill us all, then it will most likely be ourselves once they are all defeated. There is no question that mankind will fight over itself to acquire their own Evangelions as tools of war and symbols of superiority. The Evangelions will become the next big, highly sought after, weapon of mass destruction used in international conflicts. That is why Instrumentality is the only way forward for Mankind. It is also the only way I will ever see my Yui again..._

* * *

><p><em>So... here I am, once again... I swear that this place ranks third on my list of places I spend the most time in... <em>I thought as I wandered through the corridors of NERV's hospital wing. After I woke up and recovered from my alcohol induced headache, I decided to go and pay Rei a visit.

_First note to future self: you cannot handle alcohol at 14, even if it was just one. Second note to future self: do not let Shigeru get you a drink while he is drunk, he'll just forget that you're a kid and give you a Yebisu. Third note to future self: Misato throws the most wildest parties imaginable! She makes college parties look like an awkward social gathering! The next time Misato offers to throw a party, do _**NOT**_ turn it down; just remember to remind her to stock up on soda as well as beer..._

Before I knew it, I found myself standing in front of a private hospital suite in an isolated part of the hospital. Outside of the room were two burly Section 2 agents, likely posted by Gendo as private guards for Rei. The door to the suite was locked by a complex system that required a supercomputer that rivalled one of the Magi terminals, and the world's best code-breaker, to crack. The system was monitored directly by the Magi, likely to alert Gendo and Section 2 if anyone even attempted to breach the system. To disarm and bypass the security, you needed permission to dismiss the Section 2 guards from the NERV commander himself, an ultra-high security clearance NERV ID card, biometric data from the exact owner of said NERV ID card, and to top it all off, a written password consisting of 8 characters. Unsurprisingly, only three people in the whole of NERV were of high enough clearance to bypass all these security measures and open the door to the suite: Doctor Akagi and NERV's very own commander and sub-commander, and the password needed to open the door was changed everyday – it was the Magi's job to randomly assemble an entirely new phrase for the password lock everyday the security system to the suite was active; no phrase generated is ever used more than once, EVER. How it still manages to come up with an almost infinite amount of phrases all consisting of 8 characters still baffles me. The door to the room itself, as well as the many deadbolts and locks that secured the door to it's frame, were forged from a complex Titanium alloy; the very same metal used in the armour of the Evas. The door was near indestructible and it would take nothing short of a mini N2 device to damage the door significantly.

But there was one flaw with the entire system. It only takes someone already on the other side of the door to activate a switch and disarm and unlock the door, or just open the door itself using the basic handle on the interior side, which was what I was hoping to get Rei to do.

_First, I just need to see if the guards will let me pass._

"Excuse me, is Rei Ayanami receiving any visitors?" I asked.

The men were immediately roused from their tedious daydreaming to my question.

_I suppose in such an isolated part of the hospital, these guys have to spend all day standing rim-rod straight doing nothing for 6 hours until the shift change. I'm betting that Gendo would burn their asses if they moved so much as an inch out of position when guarding Rei._

Probably searching for any kind of entertainment at all, and recognising me as a fellow Eva pilot, they responded, "The First Child has not been forbidden from seeing visitors right now, however I'd wish you luck trying to get past that lock there, kid." One of the men responded.

I nodded to them as I walked up to the door and knocked lightly. There was a moment of silence, before I finally received an audible reaction from the inside of the suite, "May I ask for identification please." a small, monotone voice asked.

"Um, hi. My name is Shinji Ikari, I'm the Third Child, and your new fellow pilot here at NERV, I've been designated the official pilot for Unit-"

I was cut off as the ever-present glowing red light above the door to the suite switched to a neon green colour as the many locks in the door were retracted and deactivated momentarily. I felt the bewildered gazes of the two Section 2 guards as I opened the door and entered the suite.

There were no real windows displaying the outside views of the Geofront, only a simulated holographic projection of a window, displaying a distant green countryside meadow and a small stream peacefully flowing undisturbed down a small hillside in the distance. The image was, relaxing, as I'm sure it was designed to be, and removed any feelings of claustrophobia from having no real windows for the very same security reasons as the lock on the door. The room itself was bright with the artificially replicated light of the Sun projecting from the simulated window, making all the colours of the room look washed out and blanched. Within the small room was a typical hospital bed, surrounded by a wide assortment of medical equipment and monitors, not all of them being currently used, and a small bedside table with a framed picture displaying Rei and Gendo together. There sitting upright upon the bed was Rei herself, wearing nothing but a plain hospital gown. Her body was covered in bandages. She had a bandage wrapped around her forehead, which was also covering her right eye, her left arm was bandaged and her right arm was in a cast and a sling tied around her shoulder and torso. I also noticed that she was currently occupying herself by staring out the simulated window and across the meadow.

There was an awkward silence between us as I struggled to try to say something normal to a girl I'm not supposed to really know, but in actual fact is my half-sister who I've missed and haven't seen in a while. Fortunately, Rei was the first to speak.

"Is it true that you are Commander Ikari's biological Son?" she asked in her usual monotone voice.

_Why is she always so... numb... to life? Is it because she is part Angel? _I briefly pondered.

"Yes, as much as I dislike this fact, it's true." I admitted.

I noticed that her eyes narrowed minutely when I mentioned my dislike, of course in normal circumstances nobody would have been able to notice this, but I've spent lots of time, the last time I went through all this, watching Rei and I've gotten use to her rare, minuscule displays of emotion.

"Why do you dislike the Commander? Is he not gentle, kind and loving to you?" she asked innocently.

_I forgot how naïve she was to begin with..._

"No, he is not any of those things to me. You are treated far more like family to him than I ever was... and I'm supposed to be his biological Son." I said as calmly as I could to avoid angering Rei and getting a slap again.

"You see Ayanami... after my Mother died, the Commander made the decision to abandon me at the age of just 4 years old. He drove me to the nearest Train station and told me that I was going away. Not soon after we got to the station, the train arrived. He told me to get on the Train, but I paused to ask him if he was coming. He explained to me that he was not coming with me; he told me that I was being given to someone else to be looked after, like an object being tossed aside for being inconvenient... How was I supposed to take that? To be convinced as a 4 year old that your own... Father... thought of you as an object, a tool?" I was struggling to keep my composure at this point. I had clenched both of my fists tightly and my eyes were starting to water as I told my own story to Rei to make her see what Gendo could really be like.

"As I started crying... all he did was just turn around and start walking back to his car with his hands in his pocket... like he didn't give a shit... The last words I heard from him were that I should get on the Train by myself and ride it to the end of the line where someone should eventually come to collect me... whenever they could be bothered... or I could continue standing there crying, and the Train would leave. Then I would be on my own..."

I paused in my story to observe Rei's reaction. She was gazing quite intently in my direction, but her eyes were not focused on me. It felt more like she was staring right through me as I confessed my troubled history. Her face displayed no expression or reaction, as normal, but her eyes were filled with concern, confusion and a small amount of anger; whether it was at me or at Gendo, I couldn't tell.

I took a few moments to calm down and control myself before I finished, "He left the station, and I was left with the choice on whether to get on the Train or not. To me at the time, either option led to the same outcome, I would be abandoned. But I chose to get on the Train in the hopes that the person I was told who would be waiting for me would be nice enough to care about me... The Train ride lasted for 4 lonely, agonizing hours.

"When I reached the end of the line, I found that the only person there was a strict, old teacher. He was to be the person who would look after me for the next 10 years... He never cared for me. He made me spend all my time doing chores and homework. My daily routine consisted of waking up at 6 am sharp, making me and my teacher a traditional Japanese breakfast of Rice, Fish and Miso soup, going to school, coming straight home from school, cleaning the entire house from top to bottom, cooking a traditional Japanese dinner and doing my homework for the rest of the day until bed. Only on special occasions was I allowed to watch the TV in the house, while my teacher would spend all his free time watching it non-stop... The only entertainment I was regularly allowed was Books and my music from my SDAT player. I was also allowed to practice my Cello, but only on weekends.

"I had to put up with this for 10 years... I had no choice... This meant that I never made any real friends and if anyone wanted to hang around with me, they couldn't as I wasn't allowed to spend time with others outside of school, so I was a loner... I only remember one time when I was still 4 that I sneaked out at sunset to play with some others at a sandpit in a nearby park... but they too eventually abandoned me to play by myself... and then came a few days ago when the Commander sent me a letter with the single word 'Come' on it. Once again, like a tool, I was summoned only when there was a use for me... Now do you at least understand my own personal reasons as to why I have an extreme dislike towards Gendo?... the man who I no longer consider my Father..."

Rei remained completely silent, I couldn't even hear her breathe. She had turned back to looking out at the meadow again, but this time she wasn't entirely focusing on anything.

_I suppose it's a lot to take in when you hear from someone else that your favourite person isn't who you thought they were..._

"I'm not trying to make you hate the Commander yourself, but I'm trying to help you see things from my own perspective." I added to appease her.

She remained silent, so I decided to leave her to her thoughts, "I didn't mean to drop that bombshell in your lap, but I hope you recover soon. See you soon, Ayanami." I said as I made my way to the door.

Before I could grasp the handle, Rei spoke.

"... I am sorry, I didn't realise that you had your own reasons for your view on others, specifically the Commander." she apologised.

I paused as I responded, "It's okay Ayanami, you couldn't have known. But just keep in mind in the future to be considerate to others about their actions and behaviours. Everyone has their own reasons for being who they are and acting the way they do."

She paused again before she surprised me, "Rei." she stated.

I turned around to give her an extremely confused expression.

She noticed my confusion and explained, "I would like it if you called me Rei."

Realization dawned on me as I finally got what she meant, "Oh right, heh, I didn't get what you meant for a second. Ok then, Rei, you can call me Shinji then."

"Alright... Shinji..." she said awkwardly.

I smiled, "Well, get well soon Rei." I said as I opened the door and left.

* * *

><p>About 15 minutes later, I found myself waiting outside of NERV to meet with Misato.<p>

_She still insists I come live with her at her apartment... She must really like having guys do all the work... _I smirked.

It was around this time that I picked out a familiar head of Lavender rapidly bounding towards me.

"Oh, Shinji! Hey over here!" she waved.

_She's also still as energetic as ever... I missed that..._

I calmly walked to her as she turned and started making her way back to her car.

"Time to go home! But first, I gotta stop at the store to pick some stuff up. We're having a Welcoming Dinner!" she exclaimed

"Well, that's awfully nice of you. Who's cooking?" I asked, masterfully disguising my dread over the chance of being forced to stomach Misato's infamous cooking.

"Well... I was going to cook... but does that mean you are offering?" she asked hopefully. She was never one for doing any work when in relaxed-Misato mode.

"Sure, I can cook all sorts of foods, what do you want?" I asked.

"Well, I'm up for some Seafood!" she said.

"Hmm, I think for you, you'd enjoy my Beer-battered fried Tempura with home-made chilli sauce..." I mused, although truthfully, I learned the last time that that was her favourite dish out of what I made for her. The Beer-batter was a bonus I am improvising this time as this is a special dinner.

"Oh Kami-sama, my mouth is watering just from the sound of that!" she said, with actual drool dripping down the side of her face.

_Jeez Misato, I haven't even made it yet!_

"Well, let's see what you're made of Shinji! Or in this case, what you can make!" she laughed at her own joke while I playfully sighed.

_This was going to be a good night._

* * *

><p><strong>Author Notes: <strong>_And there you have it, Chapter 2!_

_I was really pushed for free time this week, so it took much longer than anticipated to write this chapter. Just like Episode 2 of the Anime, this chapter was spent on character development – hope I did it right!_

_Also, since I started writing this chapter, more people have reviewed! Shout out to another Guest! (or maybe the same Guest? I don't know... once again, Fanfiction posted your review later than the actual date it was registered...) and _**DanAbnettFan1997** _for reviewing while I was in the process of writing this chapter!_

_Hope people didn't mind that most of this were from the perspectives of other characters besides Shinji, but hey! Character development..._

_Next chapter shouldn't take as long as the Weekend is here! I'll also be writing more action in the next one too._

_Remember to leave Reviews! Until next time!_

_- Western-Otaku_


	5. Back to School

**Author Notes:** _Well guys, welcome back to Chapter 3!_

_I only just published my last chapter on Friday, but today's Saturday and I've got free time! I say it's Saturday now but I'll bet that I won't actually finish this and post this until sometime next week from now._

_So this chapter should cover just a bit of the end of episode 2 and episode 3... Time to re-introduce the other two stooges and Hikari!_

**Guest 1: **_I've planned something for Asuka when Shinji meets her later... I can't say anymore without releasing spoilers, and people who've read my fic description when it was first published, before I changed it, may already know what I'm now planning with Asuka – nothing major though..._

**Guest 2: **_I'm starting to plan some larger changes soon, but yeah, this is pretty much build-up._

_Please keep the reviews coming, they're great! And even if you think I need to improve, telling me in a review is better than keeping quiet about it! I'm still new to writing, but once again, please no flames._

_Anyway hope you guys are looking forward to it._

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Evangelion, nor anything relating to it. But I so wish I did!_

* * *

><p>"Well Shinji, here we are." Misato said as we stood outside of Misato's apartment, laden with shopping recently bought.<p>

_Home sweet home_ I thought as Misato opened the door and stepped aside to allow me to walk in first.

"I'm home." I called out.

"Welcome home." Misato said.

* * *

><p>Just like last time, Misato's place was filthy. Beer cans were scattered everywhere: the Kitchen, the Living Room, the Bathroom, Misato's room, what is soon to be my room and the very large closet that will be my room once Asuka moves in.<p>

To skip the boring parts, I spent about half an hour cleaning the apartment until it was as I remembered it. Then I moved on to making dinner.

As I fried Tempura using a new recipe I improvised using Beer in the batter, the smells of alcohol mixed with fried oil soon caused Misato to drift through the air by her nose and into the Kitchen, where she sat herself down at the table and waited patiently for me to finish and serve.

"Wow Shinji, that smells delicious! And thanks for cleaning the apartment up, I've been meaning to do that soon." she said with a little guilt as she scratched the back of her head.

I just rolled my eyes at that statement.

_Yeah right, soon meaning when the Third Impact happens... If I didn't do it, no-one would until you started drowning in empty beer cans.  
><em>

I finished up the last of the Tempura and served them on a plate to share, along with my home-made Chilli Sauce, some Rice and Fish.

"Itadakimasu!" We spoke simultaneously as we tucked in.

"Wow Shinji, are you the God of cooking or something? This food is the best I've ever had, even better than any of the takeaways I've had or the food at some Restaurants I've eaten at!" Misato happily exclaimed.

No matter how many times I receive it, I still feel overwhelmed when other people praise me. Therefore, it wasn't surprising when the capillaries in my face acted of their own accord and widened, increasing blood flow and causing my face to light up like a Christmas bulb. As a bonus, Misato fell off her chair laughing her ass off at my expense.

Ah, good times.

* * *

><p>And thus, ended my second day after returning. I lay on my bed, once again listening to my S-DAT player in the dark. I no longer listened to my S-DAT player to escape reality, but to enjoy the calm, soothing tones, that were able to lull me to sleep so easily.<p>

It was during this time, when I wasn't tipsy, that my mind started to wander, thinking about anything that came to mind.

_I wonder if Ritsuko would allow me to bring a music player into the entry plug? Or maybe she would build one into the entry plug if I asked? If I was allowed to bring one in, I'd need to get a waterproof one, which means I'll have to stop using the S-DAT player... but I'll still keep it as a souvenir of Mum... but then again, I can talk to her freely now in Unit 01... the battles are going to be so much better with Mum there to help out... I'm sure Ritsuko will interrogate me as soon as she sees me next, in private. Probably after the battle tomorrow with Samshel when I'm being checked on in Medical... Toji and Kensuke will be watching the battle tomorrow... shall I do something to impress them?... I think I'll bring the battle really close to them, and then finish the Angel off right in front of them... then I can hop right out of the Eva and wave at them, that'll surprise them and give Kensuke a treat... they're really good friends to have, and I really missed them when Toji got landed in hospital because of me and Kensuke had to move away...  
><em>

I was woken from my thoughts by Misato opening the door to my room.

"Hey Shinji."

"Hi Misato, what is it?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see if you were doing okay. You've done something very noble, and no matter what happens from now onwards, you can be proud that you saved Tokyo-3 today." she spoke.

I smiled at her as I responded, "Thanks Misato, I really appreciate it. By the way, isn't that a little revealing?" I asked to relieve the tension as I noticed that she was only wearing a towel around her Torso, and it only just barely covered her assets and reached down to her upper thighs.

Misato blinked at me, before looking down and realising what I meant. All she did in response was just strike a pose and wink at me before closing my door.

I closed my eyes and smiled as I eventually drifted off to sleep listening to Track 25 of my S-DAT.

* * *

><p>I quickly ran out of the apartment, barely remembering to leave breakfast for Misato, as I bolted straight down the road towards School to be on time.<p>

_Can't believe I allowed myself to oversleep! I've never overslept before in my Life! Sensei drilled that habit into me when I was under his care... It may have been the Alcohol in the Tempura batter that made me sleep for longer... I don't really have any other good explanation for it..._

Finally I arrived at the Tokyo-3 Junior High School, within good time, to check in at the Principle's office.

"Um, excuse me, pardon the intrusion, but is this the Principle's office?" I asked.

"Why yes, you've come exactly to the right place! You must be Mr. Ikari, the transfer student who's supposed to be starting today?" the Principle asked.

"Yes that's me." I replied.

"We've been expecting you. This here is your new Sensei, he will show you to your classroom. You are in Class 2-A by the way."

"Thank you very much." I said as I bowed out and followed Sensei out of the office.

I already knew the way, but I still pretended to look like I was memorising my new surroundings. We soon arrived outside of Class 2-A, where the Sensei did the customary tradition for introducing a transfer student. He walked in first to get the class settled and go through the introduction routine, before announcing my presence as the new transfer student.

"Okay class, we have a new transfer student today. Please come in." he instructed.

I calmly walked into the classroom and turned and stood at the front, gazing across the entirety of Class 2-A.

_There's more students here than last time... ah, right, it was because last time, after my bad performance, many buildings were destroyed and the damage frightened families to leave Tokyo-3. I suppose I have to make sure they don't regret not leaving... _I thought as I introduced myself.

"Hi, my name's Shinji Ikari, but you can all call me Shinji. It's nice to meet you." I said as I gave a small, quick bow.

To save all the fuss that would happen later during class, which would cause Sensei to dislike me from then onwards, I decided to just get it over with and announce it straight-away to the class.

"Before anyone asks, I know what you are all thinking. Yes, I am the pilot of that Robot some people saw 2 days ago. I work with NERV and I fight creatures called Angels. That's all I'm allowed to tell you, but as proof, here's my NERV Pilot ID card." I said as I quickly showed them the card with my status as pilot and Child designation, all conveniently displayed on the card. I almost laughed as everyone rushed up front to get a good look at my NERV ID and found my introduction to be wholly legitimate.

_Well, got that out of the way... Hikari should step in, in 3... 2... 1..._

"Alright guys, give the new guy a break... **SIT DOWN!**" Hikari yelled as everyone scrambled back to their seats to not suffer the wrath of the Class Rep. Although it took a little more effort for Kensuke to restrain himself and to sit down, I noted.

"Alright then, now that that is out of the way, please take your seat Mr. Ikari. There is a spare desk at the back next to Mr. Kensuke Aida." Sensei said. I never bothered to memorise his name due to how boring he was... I'm not even sure anyone has ever mentioned it at all...

I made my way to my desk as Kensuke gave me a wave from the back to show me where the desk was. I smiled and waved at him once I reached my desk and sat down.

Kensuke wasted no time in leaning over and whispering to me, "Hi there, I'm Kensuke Aida, but you can call me Kensuke! I can't believe that you're really a pilot for one of those things! I was right there recording that... Angel, you called it?..." He said a little confused.

"Yes, they're officially designated Angels by NERV, but I don't know who came up with using that name or why they agreed to use it, but it stuck I guess." I clarified. I reasoned with myself before-hand that if I didn't tell him anything, he would go ahead and try to hack into the Magi, which would land him in a whole heap of trouble if Section 2 ever found out. So, as a compromise to save my friend, I decided to allow him to play 20 questions with me and tell him all the non-classified stuff to keep his hunger satiated.

"Oh, anyway, that Robot you piloted was sooo cool! You gotta tell me the specs on that thing! I just have to know! And your piloting was amazing! Did you receive lots of training? Are they looking for any more pilots?" he hurriedly asked.

"Mr. Aida, please settle down and leave the new student alone." Sensei said as he paused in his lecture on the Second Impact.

Kensuke looked down-trodden until I pointed at my laptop and booted it up and created a chat profile. I used the same name as before and then I invited Kensuke to a private chat... This time I actually made sure it was private.

* * *

><p>[Chat room – Evangelions – Open]<p>

Shinji 01 entered the chat room

Sgt. Otaku entered the chat room

Shinji 01: OK, what do you wanna know again?

Sgt. Otaku: K, 1st, what are the specs of the robot?

Shinji 01: Well, it's called an Evangelion, and is specifically built to combat the Angels. The one I pilot, the purple and green one, is called Eva Unit 01. I also know that there is a Unit 00 also here at NERV and a Unit 02 that is in Germany at this moment, as well as Units 03 and 04 which are both in America right now. That's all I can tell you about the Evas right now, without delving into classified info.

Sgt. Otaku: K, Still, dat's so kool! Do they need a pilot?

Shinji 01: Unit 00 is piloted by Rei, here in this class, Unit 02 already has a pilot, and Units 03 and 04 are not being deployed yet. There's a special system in place that picks new pilots, so I can't ask them for you... soz.

Sgt. Otaku: Awww, I really want to pilot one... k 2nd question! Did u get lots of training?

Shinji 01: I got quite a bit of training, yh. It isn't easy to wrestle a 40 metre creature and then throw a Knife at them and hit your target dead on and with enough force to penetrate several metres. But I can't tell you when or where I received my training.

_I can't tell anyone, no-one would really believe me if I did anyway..._

Sgt. Otaku: K, u said Rei was a pilot 2? I always knew sumthing was up with her, but I never knew dat would be the case.

Shinji 01: Yh, Rei keeps to herself a lot. She was raised by NERV essentially, and she's been helping them with tests for most of her life, but they never taught her about being sociable. She just does what she's ordered to do or told to do by her superiors. I've been trying to get her to open up more.

Sgt. Otaku: Ain't she cute though? U're lucky u get to work with someone like Rei a lot!

Shinji 01: I suppose so

BasketballBadass entered the chat room

BasketballBadass: hey, new kid, need 2 talk 2 u at lunch. meet me at da roof.

BasketballBadass left the chat room

Sgt. Otaku: Dat's Toji Suzuhara, the guy sitting on my left by the window, 2 seats to ur left.

Shinji 01: What do you think he wants? And how did he get into the chat room? I thought it was private?

Sgt. Otaku: I taught him a little secret to the system...

Shinji 01: Ok, anyway, it was nice talking to you. I'll talk to you again at lunch?

Sgt. Otaku: Sure thing, I'll go with you to talk to Toji to make sure nothin too bad happens...

Sgt. Otaku left the chat room

Shinji 01 left the chat room

[Chat room – Evangelions – Closed]

* * *

><p>At long last, lunch had rolled around, and I was dying to get up and stretch my muscles. I tried forcing myself to get to sleep during the Second Impact lecture but I found that sleep had decided to be a bitch and not show up. So instead, I booted up Counter Strike: Global Offensive and joined the class deathmatch game that was going on.<p>

_Having a hacker Otaku in your class has it's perks... especially when class is so boring!_

Honestly, I didn't do too badly, but Kensuke owned everyone. I bet he sweats Counter Strike at home when he isn't hacking or out with Toji at the arcade playing more games.

Anyway, I started to make my way to the roof to meet Toji. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I was hoping that he wouldn't punch me this time.

_After all, none of the buildings even had a scratch. His little sister shouldn't have been hurt or anything._

I opened the fire door and stepped out, onto the roof. I looked around and saw no-one was here yet, so I decided to walk over to the balcony and wait.

The last time, I always found the roof to be a good place to just think, and the view from the school of Tokyo-3 was pretty good too, almost as good as the outlook from the hillside road above Tokyo-3.

_Maybe after the battle, I'll take a walk at Sunset and just hang around there for a while, before coming home and sorting out dinner. Maybe I'll just get take-out and bring it back with me._

I remembered last night before I went to bed when Misato brought up the subject of chores.

**(Flashback)**

I had just finished washing the dishes and was about to escape off to my room to unpack what little I had and get to bed, when Misato stumbled out of the Living Room.

"Hey Shinji! Sit down, we needs to talks about sumthin' impora... imprato... important!" Misato drunkenly slurred.

I obliged and sat down across from my drunk guardian as she spent a few minute rambling incoherently about stuff before getting to the point.

"blah, blah, blah... blah, blah... feet... blah, blah, blah... mushrooms... blah, blah... protection... blah, blah, blah... giraffes... blah, blah... pregnancy tests... blah, blah... Chores!" she finished.

"We needs to figure out whos doin what around here!" she says.

"Well, I can do all the cooking, as you say I'm really good at it and I enjoy it," _and because yours is terrible,_ "so how about you and I split the rest 50/50?" I asked.

"Awww, no fun! Let's plays a game fors de' left over chores!" she said. It was more of an obligatory statement than a suggestion.

"Fine, ok then. What game then?"

"Rock, paper, scissors! I'ms a master at it in de' bar!" she proudly announced.

"Ok, your on!"

"Rock, paper, scissors, go!" we both shouted.

**(End of Flashback)**

After many months of observing Misato's tactics with Rock, paper, scissors I figured out Misato has a technique she uses. However, once you knew the technique, it was fairly easy to beat... with enough practice and skill. The technique required extremely fast reaction timing and a good amount of acting, which explains why Misato plays really well in the bar.

Misato would heavily paint the picture to her victims that she was pretty drunk, when really, she wasn't even tipsy. She would stumble around and purposefully move sluggishly and slur her words to make the illusion all the more believable. This would subconsciously put the victim at ease, and would also explain Misato's slightly slower movements.

When it is actually time to start playing Rock, paper, scissors Misato slows down her movements to lag slightly behind the beginning chant of 'Rock, paper, scissors' causing the opponent to start revealing their hand first at the last second on the word 'go!'. If the opponent is going for rock, their fist stays tightly closed on the way down during 'go!'. That leaves a 50/50 chance of the opponent choosing paper or scissors if you notice their fist starting to open up on the last call, which are mathematically much better odds. If you were lucky and **extremely** fast at processing information, you could wait a little more to see whether the entire fist opens or not, before making your decision only a few milliseconds before you displayed your own hand.

The average person would never be able to use this technique as effectively without leaving a large gap in between their opponent's movements and their own, that was easy to spot, but Misato isn't your normal drunken guardian, she was Captain Misato Katsuragi, official Tactical Officer of NERV-Central. Not just anyone can get into the position she has. To her Rock, paper, scissors is just child's play in comparison to commanding an entire battle with 40 metre robots against other-worldly creatures set on the destruction of Humanity for their own goals.

And I was also an Eva pilot. Children who are eligible for becoming Eva pilots (_the entirety of Class 2-A_, I noted), possess advanced cognitive capabilities and other special traits that make us a step higher than other kids around the world. This was mainly due to the radiation left behind after the Second Impact which affected us before our birth, and it's just coincidence that we were all developing as fetuses in spots around the world that had slightly higher concentrations of this radiation. These traits can vary from a very high affinity to learn (demonstrated by Asuka finishing college), better physical health (demonstrated by Toji who is a master at basketball), heightened reaction times (demonstrated by Kensuke's knack for hacking into any system around the world, you're going to need that to avoid getting caught by any security) and the ability to adapt to any role (demonstrated by Hikari as Class Rep and the many duties she is required to carry out due to her position). However, all I am able to demonstrate is my ability to do complex tasks and even multi-tasking without paying attention, as well as being able to concentrate on tedious or mundane tasks for extended periods of time, much longer than the average human being.

If you're wondering where it is I learned this, I picked it up during the Third Impact - probably from Ritsuko's mind or maybe Fuyutsuki's or someone else important at NERV. The rest, I filled in for myself after doing a small amount of thinking... I may not quite be on Asuka's level of intelligence, but I'm still one of these special children and I was ahead of the rest - proven by being picked as an Eva pilot before any of the rest of Class 2-A, and I'm also sure being the son of someone who was once counted as one of the smartest women on the planet counts for something...

Anyway, all this in total means that without any training, I was naturally more than a match for Misato and her little spiel, once I figured it out – which didn't actually take very long. I am also able to come up with mental monologues like this that last a few minutes, within a few milliseconds in real-time.

I'm sure the whole of Class 2-A could be described as Child Prodigy's... we just don't act like it. Despite the talents that we have, we all just want normal lives, and do normal things such as lazing around and playing games and not doing any work, until the last minute. Work takes effort. Effort is a precious resource, so we save it for things we like and find more important! Except Asuka, she just wants to look like the best, which is probably why she is the only one to make an effort to answer Sensei's questions, while the rest of us mess about or don't pay attention. And even then, she's already learnt all this stuff, so she's at a major advantage and can afford to not listen and play games with us and still know all about the content later, like Thermal Expansion. She was also the best at Counter Strike, even gave Kensuke a run for his money when she played.

Anyway, returning to the present... I'll skip to after our game.

Obviously, to make sure it didn't look like I was on to her, I purposefully lost. But unknown to her, I made sure I got all the jobs I was the best at (out of me, Misato and Asuka – when she comes) such as all the cleaning and cleaning the dishes and buying groceries and toiletries for the apartment, while Misato had to take out the trash and do the laundry. Of course, I knew that Misato would just get Makoto to do her laundry for her, so I'd have to do it anyway for myself, and she'd always make an excuse as to why she had forgotten to take out the trash, so I'll end up doing that too. In all honesty, I should have just said I would do all the chores and be done with it, but the idea that Misato should be pitching in when she has time is nice.

My in-depth musing was interrupted as the fire door access to the roof was opened behind me. I turned to see Toji, followed shortly after by Kensuke, step onto the roof. Kensuke was smiling and videoing everything via his trusty camera, while Toji had a look of seriousness as he slowly walked towards me.

I felt like cowering right there and then, but I knew Toji. Despite his rough exterior, he was a good person underneath. He was a devoted older brother, a good sportsman, a loyal friend and a person of reason; he does not do things without some sense of logic as his reason... as long as it didn't involve girls... or Misato.

"Thanks for waitin', new kid." Toji said, calmly and evenly. I was struggling to figure out whether he was deliberately using this kind of tone to not reveal any of his inner emotions or what he was thinking, or if he was just doing it subconsciously.

"Of course. Kensuke said that your name was Suzuhara?" I asked.

"Yeah, but you can call me Toji, everyone does, I hate formality." he said.

"Ok then Toji, what was it you needed to talk to me about?"

There was a short pause as Toji evaluated me with a quick glance, before he spoke, "You really the pilot of that Robot that Kensuke called an Evan-jelly-whatever?"

"Yes, that was me." I responded. I already knew he had seen my ID card when I showed it to the class, so there was no point in lying or taking it out again. It wasn't like I was going to anyway.

Toji came a few steps closer to me and stopped only a foot away from me, like the last time. He was well within striking distance, and I wasn't sure whether to take the punch again if he decided to do that, or retaliate this time. I had done a quick evaluation and I was fairly confident that Toji had no fair reason to punch me, but I still remember him as my friend, and I still had that voice in my head – although it was much, much smaller now – saying that I deserved any punishment anyone gave me.

Toji finally made a move. He thrusted his hand out, abruptly, making an offer of gratitude in the form of a hand-shake. I was briefly stunned that Toji would do something as formal as a hand-shake to a fellow classmate. I realised that due to his dislike of formality, he did not resort to bowing, and instead went for the western custom of hand-shaking as a more relaxed sign of respect and also of fellowship.

It seems Toji had done a small amount of thinking this through, which may have been the reason behind his serious demeanour throughout the entirety of classes that day.

"I'd like to thank you for what you did that night. You see, me and my little sister was caught up very close to where the battle took place. We thought we were going to die because of that... Angel, you called it?... anyway, we thought we were in trouble, until you came right out of the ground. Honestly, I didn't think you would be able to do anything. Sure, you were piloting a giant robot, but I saw tanks, missiles and I heard an N2 mine had been thrown at it, and it was still walking around! I was ready for something bad to happen, that was until I saw the moves you pulled off. Cutting right to the chase, as you know more than anyone about the battle, you saved me and my sister's life. For that, I am extremely grateful, man."

That was the longest, most sincere and serious thing I had ever heard Toji say directly to me. I looked from his outstretched hand, to his serious face, and then back down to his hand again. I felt overwhelmed by Toji's gratitude, and despite feeling like I was cheating by doing it all over again, I knew deep down that I actually deserved it for once – the voice telling me to go crawl into a corner and die of depression could go fuck itself for once.

I smiled and firmly returned the hand-shake, before patting him on the back, "Enough with the seriousness! we're only 14; there's no need to act like we're turning grey, besides we're classmates!" I said.

Toji sighed, and with that, all the tension and seriousness drained from his face as he gave me back a smirk, "So, Shinji, was it? You up for basketball or somethin'?" he asked.

"I'm not really that good, but sure, why not?" I said.

"This will be fun to watch, the new guy against the pro!" Kensuke excitedly said, "I wonder how easy Toji's going to go on you?" he said playfully.

* * *

><p>From behind the fire door at the stairwell to the roof, I watched Toji walk up to our new transfer student.<p>

"Don't do anything stupid, Suzuhara." I whispered quietly.

_Please don't do anything to make me step in! I really don't want to give you more reason to dislike me... what am I thinking? Whatever Toji does is up to him, and he has to live with the consequences of his decisions. _I thought firmly.

I could be very strict when I wanted to be, people don't snatch up the role of Class Representative just by sitting there and being the teacher's pet, it takes hard work and effort. Things that my family praised.

I looked on silently as Toji stared at the transfer student, Shinji Ikari, for a moment.

_I bet this has something to do with him being a pilot. He did say yesterday that him and his Sister were both there when the Monster attacked the other day... I think Ikari called it an Angel... why is it called an Angel? People these days can't come up with good names for anything can they?_

Suddenly, Toji did something I never would have expected him to do in all the years I had known him, and garnered a new respect for him. Toji was offering Ikari a hand-shake. I couldn't quite make out what Toji was saying, but now his intentions were clear – he was thanking Ikari, most likely for stopping the Angel and preventing Sakura and him from getting injured at all.

Ikari smiled back at him and returned the hand-shake, while also patting Toji on the back with his other hand. I couldn't see Toji's face from this viewpoint, but I saw the tension disappear from his shoulders as he relaxed into a more casual stance. Next thing I knew, Toji was shouting something about basketball with Ikari looking a little nervous and Kensuke getting excited.

_They're probably off to play basketball, let's see how hard Toji decides to beat him. I hope he's merciful to his fellow classmate today..._

Toji was famous across the school for being the best at basketball, he even gave the senior students a good run for their money. In fact, Class 2-A had quite the reputation. Toji was famous across the sporting community of the school for his exemplary athletic skills, Kensuke was famous across the intellectual community for his substantial tech skills and ingenuity in that field, I, myself, was well aware of my hard-earned reputation as a force to be reckoned with when it came to dealing with disorderly conduct at school – I was supposedly the dictator of Class 2-A that ruled with an Iron fist... honestly, I didn't believe myself to be a dictator, more like just a law upholder within the classroom, I could be naughty too if I wanted...

There were many other examples I could name that added credibility to Class 2-A's reputation, and Ikari was fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough) to be placed among us. However, I found this to actually be a very large coincidence, as I predicted that the news has already spread across the entire school like wildfire that Ikari was a pilot for an advanced weapon at NERV of all places, the major power of Tokyo-3. There was very little question that soon, we would be able to add another name to the growing list of outstanding individuals that all resided in Class 2-A. This made me wonder at times, but it still didn't change the fact that it was my job to keep all these outstanding individuals in line.

I returned to the present as the trio had arrived at the basketball courts. Upon Toji's arrival, a crowd had quickly gathered to observe Toji's next exceptional display of his famous skills. People were also whispering about Ikari, already recognising him as the NERV pilot that started today. Kensuke was trying to start a betting pool for how bad Toji was going to trash Ikari, which became quite popular as many betted Toji to achieve a wild score as Ikari barely got a shot in. Toji's first-rate skills were too evident to ignore, and many weren't expecting Ikari to be able to do much in terms of holding his own against him, despite being a NERV pilot.

Once Toji had spent a few minutes warming up alongside Ikari, the match was about to commence and the betting pool was closed. I hadn't participated in the pool and pretended I hadn't noticed it. There was nothing in the rules that explicitly stated that anything of the sort wasn't allowed after all, and students had chosen by themselves to act despite any risks involved, so any outcome no matter good or bad could only be blamed upon themselves.

A Senior volunteered to be the referee and initiate the match. He held the ball with both hands as Toji and Ikari took their positions on opposite sides. With a quick blast of a whistle procured from the School's gym teacher, who was also watching and had also made a bet, the Senior tossed the ball high into the air and quickly rushed to the sidelines to watch. The ball seemed to move very slowly through the air as everyone watched it, before gravity claimed it at the apex of it's rise and it began to fall straight back to Earth. Without hesitation, Toji swiped the ball from the air as soon as it was in reach and sped towards the hoop, with Ikari moving to intercept a second later. Despite his size, it was quite surprising to see Ikari move with such agility and speed. Ikari was neck in neck with Toji and was attempting to tackle the ball out of his grip as Toji calmly dribbled the ball closer and closer to the hoop. Ikari tried a number of tactics by the book such as blocking Toji's route, swiping at the ball and also blocking any chance of Toji shooting early to the best of his ability. Nothing seemed to work, as Toji continued nonplussed.

That was when Ikari started to try a different approach. After realising that Toji wasn't going to be beaten by conventional means without the help of vastly superior fitness, which would be quite hard to find in a School when Toji was considered the top dog in that area, Ikari started using his mind to beat Toji instead.

Toji had stopped within metres of the hoop and was quickly lining up his shot. Ikari had lagged a little behind Toji and looked to be a little out of breath. It seemed that this was going to be Toji's first point out of many until the game's conclusion at the end of Lunch. Toji had lined up the perfect shot, and gracefully pitched the ball towards the hoop. The ball was flying true towards it's target, and everyone's attention was focused on the ball. Therefore, no-one saw it coming when Ikari appeared out of nowhere in mid-air, kicking off the basketball post and sending him on a direct path to directly intercept the ball. He swiped at the ball, sending it recoiling across the court in the direction of the opposite hoop. Ikari flipped over a temporarily stunned Toji, to avoid colliding with him, and landed with a quick roll before sprinting off again to follow the ball. Within milliseconds, Toji had recovered and quickly chased after Ikari.

_I see that Ikari has a few surprises up his sleeve..._

"Come on, Shinji!" someone said encouragingly. His shout was shortly followed by a few responses of approval to also give Ikari a bit of support. It was a rare sight for someone to pull off a manoeuvre like that, and it was even more rare for someone to be holding their own against Toji, it seems Ikari's skills deserved more credibility than everyone originally thought. Even if he still lost now, he's already proven himself to not ever be taken lightly again in the future.

Ikari now had the ball in his possession and was nearing the hoop with Toji hot on his heels. Perfectly, Ikari did a classic lay-up, but before he could boost the ball towards the hoop, Toji had snatched the ball straight from Ikari's grip. Toji was back in the game.

Ikari went for another swipe at the ball but Toji just did a 360 degree spin, dribbling the ball the entire way, and then sprinted off. Ikari was once again, trying everything he could, but to no avail as Toji closed in on the hoop. Ikari got in front of Toji, but he just responded with a crossover between the legs to dodge Ikari's tackle, before brushing past him in the confusion. At last, Toji reached the hoop and didn't waste any time in doing a lay-up of his own that went straight in.

"Point to Toji!" the Senior shouted as cheering resonated from the crowd.

_Ikari's good, but not as good as Toji! _I admitted with a small amount of glee.

The game started again, and Toji managed to take the ball this time when Ikari was only half-way across the court to his hoop, but this time Ikari seemed to be more aggressive in his defence. He did not give Toji any space and was acting like his shadow as Toji pulled off crossovers and in and out techniques to avoid Ikari tackling the ball from him. Toji had stopped at a medium distance from the hoop. Ikari was anticipating another dribble technique and focused on Toji's feet and hands – that was a mistake. Toji mentally lined up a shot before quickly tossing the ball in a bank shot that went straight in.

"Second Point to Toji!" was barely heard over the roar of the crowd.

Toji patted Ikari on the back in a friendly gesture as Ikari went and picked up the ball to restart the game again, Ikari threw back a competitive grin.

_It's pretty obvious he's planning something... but will he be able to do it before the match ends at the bell? And will Toji fall for it? At this rate, they'd only be able to score one more point before Lunch ended. Credit to Ikari though for being among the few in the school that managed to hold their own against Toji and not get completely annihilated._

Ikari sped off dribbling straight towards the opposite hoop. Toji moved quickly to intercept. He was about to tackle the ball from Ikari's left hand when Ikari did a 360 degree spin and switched the ball to his right hand and kept on dribbling.

_Wow, Ikari's learning from Toji... he perfectly replicated Toji's trick. This makes things more interesting._

Toji didn't let up as he targeted the ball, deploying every tactic in the book to try and out-skill Ikari and take the ball from him. However, with every tactic Toji used, Ikari used one of Toji's tricks that he used earlier on in the game in just the right situation at just the right time to avoid Toji.

Once Ikari was only a quarter of the way to the hoop, Toji blocked his way and stopped him from getting any chance to shoot. Toji made a double swipe with both arms in quick succession to try and seize the ball after any trick Ikari would use to counter his first swipe, however he failed. Seeing Toji's first swipe, Ikari did a dribble between the legs and then followed it up with a wraparound to get past Toji. As Toji spun around and tried to tackle Ikari, he brought the ball up to shoot, causing Toji to switch tactics and block his shot. Toji fell right for Ikari's trap.

As Toji got in front of Ikari and jumped to try and catch the shot as Ikari was about to release the ball, Ikari actually did a pump fake, duping Toji, and dashed around Toji in a power up, before spectacularly leaping into the air at the hoop post, kicking off the post to reach further up into the air and flew straight at the hoop. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Ikari latched onto the hoop with one hand and slam-dunked the ball straight into the hoop at the apex of his flight, before falling back to the ground and landing on one knee.

The entirety of the school grounds was dead silent for what felt like minutes (but were just mere seconds) before the school bell rang and the whole crowd burst into an uproar of cheers.

The final score of the game was 2 to 1 to Toji, but Ikari had just entered the ranks of the few people in the history of the school who was able to actually challenge Toji.

As Ikari recovered and picked himself off the ground, he received a large pat on the back (but due to his thin build, it looked more like a small shove) from Toji as he had a large grin on his face.

* * *

><p>I stood there, amazed, at what just happened.<p>

I wasn't so arrogant as to believe that I was untouchable (despite what the rest of the entire school says, and the hype they make over me playing basketball), after all there were still times when people still managed to score shots with me on the opposite team, but I was dumbfounded when I saw Shinji do a ninja wall-kick off of the post and aim his trajectory perfectly so he flew straight at the hoop and also managed to slam-dunk the ball in.

_This guy must have incredibly fast reflexes, just as fast as mine or maybe even more, and is also _**way **_more agile than he looks._

That was when my mind gave me a quick flashback of when I was watching the purple robot face off against the... Angel thing.

I remember being awed as I saw a purple robot with a horn (that looked like an Oni to me) crouch, jump, flip, punch, throw and move as if it was a human being – a very agile human being too. I can now see that part of the reason that it moved like that was to replicate the pilot's skill.

_I think I've just found another reason to respect this guy..._

As the bell rang and the crowd cheered, I grinned as I walked up to Shinji and gave him a large pat on the back.

"Well done man! I gotta admit, those moves you used were pretty awesome! And you also managed to copy my own moves perfectly, as if you'd been using them for ages!"

Shinji turned and chuckled as he scratched his cheek, "Heh, I guess I learn fast... but it was an honour to face a pro at this sport. I don't usually play basketball after all..." he said.

My jaw hit the floor as I stared at him, "You gotta be kiddin' me man! You don't actually play basketball?! Like in a team or anythin'?!" I shouted, it seems everyone heard me and they also gasped and stared at Shinji in disbelief.

"No, not really, I'm not the sporty type usually. I prefer doing other stuff, I always thought that I'd get in the way of the better players if I joined in..." he said guiltily.

_How low is this guy's self-esteem huh?!_

"Shinji, man, listen up right now. I don't mean to sound arrogant here, but you just faced off against a '**better player**' and didn't get your ass handed to you! There are some '**better players**' who have tried doing what you just did against me and didn't even get to score once! Let alone pull of those ninja moves you used! I'd say that you're one of these '**better players**' and just don't know it! So chin up man! Be proud!" I shouted in a mini motivational speech, using my hands to signal quotation marks whenever I said the phrase '**better players**' and used my tone to emphasise the phrase. Personally, I really didn't like it when someone went around saying that they're better at something, but this time it's the other-way round, and they actually deserved to use the phrase this time too.

Others seemed to agree with my speech as they clapped and cheered with approval once I finished. Others had started chanting Shinji's name in order to lighten his spirits up. It seemed to do the trick as Shinji pulled his head up from staring at the ground and looked across the crowd that were now chanting his name. He smiled before turning back to me as the cheering started to die down to hear what Shinji was going to say.

"Thanks Toji. I needed that. You're a good friend." He said.

I grinned back at him and gave him a thumbs up, "That's what friends do, man."

The crowd started to disperse as everyone started to make their way back to classes. Kensuke ran up to us, carrying a load of money with him.

"Guys! I made loads thanks to you two! Everyone bet that Toji was going to trash Shinji with scores such as 10 to 0 or 8 to 1 and stuff. No-one guessed at all that the score would be 2 to 1, so we made a bucket load of cash. As a bonus, as the shock was so large, no-one even complained! I guess it's also to do with the fact that people only betted a hundred yen or two each, but so many did it, and it all adds up! Since it wouldn't be fair if I took it all, and because I'm such a good friend!" he added proudly, "I'm splitting the cash 50/50. I get 50 and you guys split the other 50, yeah?" he asked.

"Fine by me." Shinji said.

"Yeah, whatever, making money for playing a game I enjoy is just a bonus." I said nonchalantly.

Kensuke ended up making 20,000 yen, so he took 10,000 yen and Shinji and I split 10,000 yen evenly between ourselves. We went to classes feeling happy... that is until the Angel alarm sounded off. That put a bit of a dampener on things...

* * *

><p><strong>Author Notes: <strong>_Alright, in this chapter, more stuff happened! I'm far from an expert from basketball, I only play it in Physical Education (P.E) classes at school, as well as now and then for fun with friends, but we're far from pros at the sport._

_I went and looked up official names for techniques I've seen a few people use when they're trying to show off when we play, but no-one I play with is actually good enough to use these moves effectively or properly in-game, but then we haven't seen the pros do it yet!_

_This chapter was more Shinji's POV-centric but I added Hikari and Toji's POVs later on as watching the game from a spectator's POV gives you a normal view of the game, like watching something on TV. The actual players in the game will be more focused on what they're doing. I also used Toji's POV to show that he's a good sport when it comes to playing games._

_I really hope people enjoy the basketball match as it's the first piece of action I've written since the Angel battle and I didn't have very much to go on in terms of what Shinji and Toji's performance would be like, apart from the fact that Toji is a good athlete and Shinji has many surprises up his sleeve; now with his new confident streak, he may be a little more encouraged to show a few more of them. I also think Shinji is a bit more of a thinker, thus the long 'meaningful' monologues I added in, as well as making him take a slightly more tactical approaches to things._

_Remember to leave Reviews! Any criticism and feedback is appreciated, as well as honesty! If you intend to flame, just word the flaming a little differently so it at least sounds a little nice, even if you don't actually mean it! It will be easier to take that way, but I really hope no-one wants to flame about this story._

_Until next time!_

_- Western-Otaku_

**Author Notes (Update: 29/12/14): **_Hey Guys, hope you had a Merry Christmas! Happy New Year by the way! Anyway, just saying that I've updated this chapter and I've fixed the issue with the Beer-battered Tempura as well as my mistake with what kind of school Shinji and Co. go to. I live in the UK so I've got no clue about the names of each stage of Education outside of the UK beyond High School, College and University._

_Sorry about that guys_ **:L**_, but it's all better now! Anyway, next chapter should be coming soon after New Years, I'm currently on a short holiday._

_If there are any more mistakes, please shout them out in a review!_

_Until next time!_

_- Western-Otaku_


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